


Ashes, Ashes

by vagrantBreath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, And is a sheltered little shit, Bonding, Canonical Character Death, Found Family, Keith was raised by the Blade of Marmora, Misunderstandings, very sheltered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:35:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 26,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9655583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vagrantBreath/pseuds/vagrantBreath
Summary: Everyone knew their kitten was destined for something greater.No one guessed it was Voltron.





	1. Chapter 1

”Again.”

Kolivan watched Antok wait for his partner to stand again. Slowly, the kitten stood, holding his blade out in front of him. The kitten watched Antok carefully, and Kolivan narrowed his eyes. Had he finally found patience? Had he finally found the ability to stop and think?

But the kitten let out a breath, one that Kolivan and Antok knew, and rushed at Antok. It was impressive, Kolivan considered as he watched Antok and the kitten fight. He had grown so much in the time they had with him. But none of that meant anything as Antok forced the kitten to his knees.

”Again.”

The kitten stood, slower.

Antok took him down quicker this time.

”Again.”

This time, the kitten slipped when standing. But the kitten stood. The kitten always stood, even when he shouldn’t. Kolivan watched the end play out how it usually did, Antok slapping the kitten down one last time, watching the kitten barely able to breathe.

But he could see Antok’s breathing. It cost him to do so. That was good. The kitten had gotten so much better. But at the same time... Kolivan narrowed his eyes. None of the other Galra needed to know what they had. Everyone in the Blade of Marmora knew what they had. Whose kitten they had stolen, raised as their own. What he could mean.

No one needed to know the kitten existed.

But still, the kitten struggled to stand, even after all of that. Kolivan nodded to Antok. “Stand down,” he told the kitten. “You’ve done well.”

”I can still fight,” the kitten panted, legs unable to keep him upright.

”You cannot,” Kolivan told him flatly. “You can barely stand.”

”I can still-”

”Kitten. You will stand down. That is an order.”

The words hit the kitten, making his teeth grit. But he stood down, relaxing against the ground. “When I get out on the field with you guys, I’m going to have to keep getting up,” he muttered.

If. If he ever did. “By the time you get to this point, you would be dead,” Kolivan told him. “It makes no difference if you stand now or not.”

The kitten grit his teeth.

Kolivan waited for a moment, then nodded to Antok. He nodded back, leaving, his tail swishing behind him as Kolivan knelt beside the kitten. “Kyleth,” he said, using the kitten’s given name, signaling the end of training. Kyleth sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “You know what the answers to your words will be by this point.”

”I do.”

”And yet you persist.”

”I’m tired of being left behind,” Kyleth said, slowly sitting up. Kolivan could see his arms trembling as they propped him up. “I’m not a terrible fighter. I can go out there and help you.”

He shouldn’t. “No.”

”Is it because I don’t look like the rest of you?” Kyleth ran a hand through the black fur on top of his head. “I can’t be the only Galra that looks like this. I can be of help, Kolivan. Just let me.”

”You still have more training to go through,” he told Kyleth, making him groan. “You’re still too hot-headed. If you cannot keep a little patience, a little focus, you cannot move forward.”

Kyleth nodded, sighing. “I understand.”

”Good. Now, go clean up and get ready for your supper. I hear Thace is going to be back.”

Kyleth’s entire face brightened at the mention of Thace. Without needing another word, he pushed himself to his feet and started off. Kolivan watched him go, eyes narrowed. He should have known their kitten would be getting restless. His mother had been restless, too restless. And they had to take him in, away from those who wanted something as unique as him, upon his birth. They knew what his birth meant. That he was destined for great things, beyond even what they could imagine.

Sometimes Kolivan asked himself how he knew. How all of them knew. How did they know that this little Galra kitten was destined for things greater than them? But they had to trust in it. They had to trust Kyleth was meant for more than subterfuge. That more was coming for him.

What, though, Kolivan had no clue.

He stood, looking towards the door. Kyleth was most likely rushing through his cleaning to get to Thace, ready to ask him questions and hang over him with that starry look in his expressively dark eyes. Before Kyleth was done, he needed to speak with Thace first.

As he expected, Thace was speaking to Ulaz, frowning. “My new assignment will take me far,” he heard Thace say as he came closer. “Kyleth will need- Ah, Kolivan.”

”I see you’re already talking about what I was going to ask.” Kolivan nodded to Ulaz. He nodded back, leaving them. “You’ve gotten the assignment with Prorok?”

”Yes. I’ve been allowed time to get my affairs in order with my current commander. I will still report-”

”You’re leaving again?”

Kyleth’s voice made Thace pause. “Ah. Yes. I will be.”

For a moment, Kyleth just nodded. Then, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, makes sense.”

Thace’s face gentled. “Kyleth. How did you do today in flight training?”

That made Kyleth’s back straighten. Kolivan noticed with some amusement how asking him about flying made him perk up. He chuckled to himself as he walked away, letting Kyleth have one last moment with Thace. There would be other moments to speak with Thace before he left.

But... for a moment, Kolivan considered looking back. Kyleth had been more and more interested in leaving. In space. He knew he looked different from all the other Galra, and it would only go so far in telling him that all Galra looked different from each other. Some day, the blood that kept his fur only to the top of his head, that turned his eyes white with dark circles moving around, that kept his skin pale would grow restless inside him. And he would want to know more. He would want to leave. He would want to find more that looked like himself.

Kolivan sighed.

They would deal with that when it came. Until then, they would train their kitten. Make him into the warrior they needed. Train him for the greatness he was destined for. And when it came...

Hopefully the universe would be ready.


	2. Chapter 2

He didn’t look like any other Galra.

To be fair, neither did any of the others. Antok had a tail. But at least they all were tall and had fur. Kyleth... he looked at his soft pink hand and sighed. Bad enough that he was the only one here of his age group. Everyone was nice, and it was great when Thace could come visit, but... sometimes, he wished he had another his age to talk to. Kyleth let his hand rest against his chest as he reclined against the wall, closing his eyes.

He was just so different from all the other Galra. Every time he looked in the mirror, he could see it. Kyleth knew he was actually Galra - his knife would react, transform in his hands - but he wondered sometimes. But he couldn’t be anything but Galra. They couldn’t breed with any other race. He was Galra, through and through. That was all he could be. But still... he stared at his hand, at the weak claws that broke too easily, and wondered.

Wondered if there was something out there that looked just like him.

Kyleth stood, stretching. Flight training would be soon. And Thace was here. He would have to show his skills a bit, show Thace just how good he had gotten. It was worth it to see Thace’s ears go up as a broad grin crossed his face.

Sourly, Kyleth traced the round shell of his own ears. That was another thing. He had these... flat ears. These non-expressive things that just sat there. He wished he had ears like the others. They were... handsome. Very handsome. He felt so plain next to them, with such little fur and round ears.

Good thing there were no Galra his age, then, he considered as he started out. He wouldn’t even be able to start a relationship, considering how plain his looks were in comparison to the others.

Enough of that. He needed to show Thace how good he had gotten. Fly. It was one thing he excelled in.

As he had hoped, Thace was there, talking with Kolivan when he made it to the bridge. “Ready for training,” he said, tempering his enthusiasm to show off for Thace.

Kolivan broke off his conversation, turning to Kyleth. “You will be training alone against a computerized opponent today.”

That was new. Kyleth spared a glance over at Thace. He didn’t look surprised or worried about what Kolivan said. “Understood.”

”Head down to your fighter. We will tell you when to launch.”

Kyleth nodded, placing his helmet on his head as he left. Non-Galra targets. That implied if something went wrong, he may be facing death. It didn’t worry him, though. He had been facing possible death ever since he had first started flying. If he fell to this, he deserved it.

But once he was actually out in space, flying- it felt so _good_. So right.

And so wrong.

He shouldn’t be _here._ Something was calling him. Deeper in. Telling him to leave, to come closer. An urge deep in his bones telling him to fly away.

It was getting harder every day to ignore the call. To ignore how seductive it was, stroking on the edge of his brain and teasing at something more. Teasing at answers he didn’t know he had questions for.

Kyleth put the call aside. He had training to do. And anyway. The others would take him out on missions when he was ready. Not before. He could wait.

  


* * *

  


”Ulaz has also gotten an assignment,” Kolivan told Thace, setting the bottle of pynon down and settling back in his seat. “The headquarters are going to be bare for a while.”

”All others are still out on assignment?” Thace asked, taking a sip. The ruby red liquid clung to his lips for a moment before he licked it away.

Kolivan nodded. “This is the most empty I’ve seen it, and it worries me.”

”I assume you’re speaking of our kitten.”

”Indeed. The fact he exists does not need to be known. No one needs to know that there is a race the Galra can breed with. And yet- Kyleth has been more and more restless, much like his mother. He hides it, but the longing-”

Thace nodded. “I see it too. The urge to leave. It’s worse every time I report back. Do you think he will run soon?”

Kolivan considered the words for a moment. “I believe we may have no choice as to what Kyleth does. We’re quite aware he’s meant for more than we can give him. But what that means- we do not know. I believe he’s about due to leave to meet his destiny. But what he does after that, after he reaches the goal we’ve been training him for, I believe, is up to him.”

”Does it worry you, Kolivan? That it appears we’ve been used by fate for Kyleth’s growth?”

”Our own destinies are separate from Kyleth’s,” Kolivan said sharply. “Whatever we have done for Kyleth does not impact what we are working towards.”

”And if Kyleth’s destiny runs counter to ours? If he leaves to meet it in Zarkon’s hands?”

Kolivan shut his eyes, thinking about it for a moment before opening them, looking at Thace. “We’ve trained him better than that. And Zarkon’s actions speak for themselves. He will do what’s right.”

”I do hope you’re right,” Thace murmured.

The words hung heavy in the air for a moment. “Your assignment,” Kolivan finally said, trying to dispel the feeling. “When does it start?”

”As soon as I return.”

”Hm.” Kolivan sipped at his pynon, the sweet taste hiding the sharp bite under it. “Perhaps, then, you should spend some time with Kyleth before you leave. He does prefer your presence over the rest of us.”

Thace chuckled. “He has a severe case of hero worship. I fear what will happen when he sees I’m a only Galra much like he is.”

”I would suppose it doesn’t matter. It makes our kitten happy. There is very little that can give Kyleth that sort of happiness since Pasija died.” The death of his mother when he was still a young kitten had nearly devastated him. It was quite true: Thace was one thing that gave made Kyleth happy. But the other... was flying, and someday, they both knew, that would cause their kitten to leave them.

”Do you believe Kyleth’s father is still alive? We’re not even sure what species Pasija laid with. His father could be incredibly short lived, and Kyleth took on our life span.”

”I believe one day Kyleth may want to find out. He’s constantly aware he doesn’t look Galra. One day, he may realize he’s not fully Galra and wish to know what he truly is. And those are not answers we have.”

Thace murmured an acknowledgment, and took another sip. “I suppose I should finish my cup and retire to my room,” he finally said. “I wouldn’t wish to face Kyleth with yet another hangover.”

Kolivan chuckled. “Then I shall put away the pynon and do the same. Sleep well, old friend.”

”Sleep well.”

As Thace left, Kolivan considered what had been said. Kyleth’s restlessness was about to overflow. If he was to return from the next flight training, Kolivan would be honestly surprised.

Kyleth was to leave soon. Their kitten would leave them, brave a universe he was not ready to see. Wander in search of answers inside him, following a call only he could hear.

And they could not stop him.

Kolivan sighed.

He hoped he was right, and Kyleth would do what he had been trained to do. To fulfill the destiny he had been trained for. And he hoped... that what it was...

That they had not been training Zarkon’s successor without realizing it.


	3. Chapter 3

Kyleth was more restless than usual. To the point that everyone could see it, even Kyleth’s flight instructor. She turned to him, worried. “Kolivan-”

”If he leaves during training today, let him go,” he told her, cutting her off. “We’ve done what we can for the kitten. And we can’t force him to stay. It would have been ideal if we could have given him a proper send off, but we cannot force him to stay if his instincts tell him to go.”

”Should we set up his fighter with supplies in case he does leave?”

”No,” Kolivan said after a moment, considering Kyleth. “The supplies may be lost sooner than we think. Get ready, and expect him to leave.”

She bowed, leaving him to watch Kyleth. He looked... as if the call was unbearable today. As if the last thing that had kept him here, with the other blades, had been Thace’s presence. And now that Thace was on his assignment, infiltrating Prorok’s ranks, he would have nothing keeping him.

Kyleth put on his helmet, pausing for a moment as he looked over at Kolivan. “Hey,” he said, worried. “Is something wrong?”

”Nothing is wrong,” Kolivan assured him. “Do your best out there, Kyleth.”

He couldn’t see it under the helmet, but he knew Kyleth was smiling.

And he knew, right then and there, this was the last time he would see Kyleth for a long time.

  


* * *

  


It had gotten easy.

Flying had gotten _too easy._ What they wanted him to do... Kyleth could do this in his sleep. It was just... he was the best pilot they had. Why was he kept back on base? They knew he was useful. Why didn’t they use him?

Kyleth bit back an annoyed noise. If he made any sort of noise that made it sound like he was bored or annoyed he would get another round with Antok. Which, if that was the reason he wasn’t taken out on missions, made no sense. He would watch Kolivan and Antok spar and even Kolivan wouldn’t win every single time. So why would that keep Kyleth from going?

They just... didn’t use him. They kept him locked up for some reason and he didn’t know why.

But right now... he was far enough away he could just... run. No one else was around. No one close enough, anyway. He could just... turn. Fly away. No one would catch him.

The thought made him rear back in his seat. No, he really was far enough away. He could turn, fly away, put on a burst of speed that would get him further away than he’d ever been. Further... and closer to whatever was calling him. To where he needed to go.

No. He shouldn’t. He needed to learn patience. If he learned patience, they would take him out on missions. He would go out, be a true part of-

Kyleth grit his teeth.

They would never take him out. He was lying to himself. If he wanted to go, he needed to go by himself.

For a moment, Kyleth sat there.

Then-

”I’m sorry,” he whispered.

He turned around, putting on a burst of speed. He could hear people in his ear, yelling at him, but he ignored it. There was something out there. Something good. A part of him told him not to slow down until he had to, to keep going-

His heart pounded in his chest, and he grinned. He had never felt like this before. Everything was... perfect. Kyleth laughed to himself as he flew, unable to stop himself. It just felt... perfect!

He felt...

Free.

That was it. He felt free. And it was wonderful. The universe was open to him. He could go anywhere. He could find other Galra. Find others like himself! He could... go where he wanted to.

The thought sobered him. He could go anywhere. And the universe was large. Where would he go? What would he do? He had dreamt about going out and being a true part of the Blade of Marmora, but now... he just ran away. What did he do now?

Kyleth swallowed.

No turning back now. He just... had to go from here. Why did he have to be so impulsive? Everyone had been trying to teach him patience and he hadn’t wanted to listen. And now he had possibly just screwed up completely.

But he couldn’t go back.

He couldn’t.

Kyleth sighed, sitting back. At least he could figure out what was calling him. There was something out there that wanted him. And he wanted to know what that was.

So he would find out what it was.

  


* * *

  


That... was a Galra battlecruiser.

Kyleth took a deep breath. Oh, this was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea.

But... he could feel something warm flickering on the edge of his awareness. Something calling him from within the battlecruiser. Something wanting him.

... he needed to know what it was. Kyleth grit his teeth, and flew in. He needed to know. He needed to get in, to see what it was. Whatever it was had been calling him for longer than he could remember. And now he was so close to finding out what it was. All he had to do was get in.

It was easier getting in than he wanted it to be. But then again, the Blade of Marmora worked mostly in the shadows. They had no reason to think anyone would be dumb enough to sneak on like he was. And if he was careful, he could just make it to where he needed to be. Just get there...

And get caught.

”You there! What are you doing?”

Crap.

At least they couldn’t see his face. His flight helmet hid it. But he couldn’t stay. Kyleth ran, pulling his blade as he went. It was his only weapon, which when he was on base sounded like enough. But when he was alone, without anything else to defend himself, it didn’t sound like it. Surrounded by who knew how many Galra... why was he so stupid? He knew better.

He ran. He ran, not knowing where he was going. Everything he knew about battlecruisers left his mind. All he knew was he ran, and ran where he thought was safe. He just had to-

Kyleth stopped.

A red barrier laid in his path. And behind it was... what was it? It was metal, and... he took a step forward, entranced. He placed a hand on the barrier, trying to figure out what this was. Something tickled at him, testing him. He almost knew-

Then he heard the Galra behind him, and he turned, holding up his blade. He wouldn’t be able to do anything here, but- maybe he could fight his way out. At the same time... he needed to stay. He needed to fight, to- to figure out what was going on. He could feel warmth on his skin as he stood there, blade at the ready as he saw them lifting their guns. If he stayed here, he was going to die, but he just-

A roar filled the air.

Kyleth turned, in surprise as the red barrier fell, and the metal beast lowered its head, opening its mouth. Before he could overthink it, he scrambled in, seeing a pilot’s chair. There. He sat in it quickly, and-

Everything came to life.

The beast- the _lion_ responded just as he could think it. It was the most responsive craft he could have flown. He flew out of the battlecruiser, whipping around to meet the fighters chasing him. He looked around, and- there! A blast escaped his lion, and blew up several fighters. This thing... it was great! Maybe if he came back with this, Kolivan would be forced to take him out on missions. Maybe they’d forgive him for running away if he came back with something this wonderful. Kyleth blew up a few more fighters and spun around, shooting off for the stars faster than any of his other craft could have taken him.

”Let’s go home,” he whispered.

A wormhole appeared in front of him, and Kyleth pulled on the control sticks in horror. “I said home,” he screamed. “Back to the base! Let’s go!”

They entered the wormhole.

  


* * *

  


”Respond to me, damn it!” Kyleth growled, pulling on the control sticks. It had been so responsive before. What happened? Now it was just... flying on its own. Going somewhere that wasn’t home. Kyleth growled again, yanking on the sticks. Maybe if he had Kolivan’s vocal cords and could growl like him, the beast would listen to him.

Instead, it didn’t. And a planet was getting closer. Which wasn’t good. Planets meant Galra. And he wasn’t ready. He was alone-

But it was entered the atmosphere, landing. Kyleth sighed as it opened its mouth, ramp leading out. Fine. It wanted him to leave. He could do that. Kyleth existed, looking around at the strangely peaceful surroundings. There were... no Galra. How? How were there no Galra? And there was a castle nearby...

What could be in the castle?


	4. Chapter 4

It was a little disturbing for the castle to come alive as soon as he stepped into it. Kyleth reached for his blade, looking around. There was a layer of dust over everything... was he the first living being to enter the castle in a long time? It had been sealed until the lion roared at it. Did that mean the lion was tied to this castle?

Kyleth stepped further into the castle, hand still on his blade. He didn’t want to be taken by surprise. Just because there was dust _here_ didn’t mean there wasn’t something further in. He had to be careful. He didn’t know where the lion had taken him. Or even what the lion was. Just that he was somewhere new and he needed to be careful.

The silence grated on him. It was so quiet, so still. Everywhere he looked, it was just... dead. Empty tech around him. Kyleth stopped for a moment, sighing. What was he doing? Why was he here? He should just go back to the lion and force it to take him home. This place was dead. And if it wasn’t, he shouldn’t be here alone.

He turned, ready to go back.

Then stiffened, hearing voices.

He couldn’t make out what they were saying. Some strange language. But they were coming closer. Kyleth ducked into a nearby hall, pulling his blade. If they were the native race, he would just run. He couldn’t understand them. But if they were Galra...

The voices came closer, and Kyleth’s eyes went round.

They looked like him.

_Galra._

Not exactly. Two had dark skin, and they were all different shapes. But they were around his size, not the height he was used to. The facial structure was like his. And the ears... round. Round, like his.

He knew there had to be other Galra like him. And he also knew they couldn’t be allowed to go any further. He had been trained to fight the Galra. He was going to do so.

The Galra made noises of surprise when he darted out in front of them, blade drawn. One of them spoke, a language he couldn’t understand. Strange. Didn’t all Galra speak the same language? Nevermind. His eyes darted around them, taking them in. They didn’t have weapons. Strange. Were they Galra explorers? But even then they would have weapons. One of the big ones, the one in black stepped forward, hands up. Kyleth pointed the sword at him, teeth grit. “Don’t move.”

The one in black’s eyes went wide. “How do I understand what you said?” he said, in clumsy Galra.

Strange. But all of them didn’t need to move. “Turn around and go. Your kind isn’t wanted here.” He was one to talk, being Galra himself, but... something told him to protect this space.

The lanky one said something to the big one, making them both shrug. “And speak Galra!” Kyleth shouted at them. “I know you know it!”

The short one started speaking, and then flames lapped at his head, warm and comforting. Flipping something inside. And suddenly he heard “-know if we should antagonize the crazy sword wielding guy.”

”Everything’s going to be okay,” the one in black, the obvious leader, said, and how was he understanding words not in Galra? What just happened?

”Everything will be okay once you tell me what you know,” Kyleth growled, seeing the shock on their faces as they realized they understood his words. “Where’d you come from? How can I now understand you? When are the rest coming?”

”We came from Earth,” the leader said calmly, lowering his hands. “As for the rest... I don’t know. I... I understood you for some reason, but we all can understand you now. And you can understand us. And I don’t think anyone else is coming.”

”Yeah, we got here via lion,” the lanky one chimed in. “Don’t think anyone else on Earth has lion technology.”

Lion. Kyleth pointed his sword at the lanky one. “You. Explain what you just said.”

Fear crossed his face. “I uh- just what I said? After we rescued Shiro, he kind of... had to go somewhere. And I kind of wanted to go out into the desert for some reason which turned out cool because there was this blue lion there.”

Blue. Not red.

”Saw a red lion parked outside. That one yours?”

”Shut up,” Kyleth growled. “You- are you Shiro?” he asked, pointing the blade back at the leader.

”Yes.”

”How long have the Galra been on Earth?”

Confusion crossed the faces of all the rest. “What the hell is a Galra?” he heard the lanky one mutter.

”They’re- not,” Shiro told him. “Humans have never seen Galra.”

”And what the hell is a human?” Kyleth shot back.

”Does he seriously not know what a human is? Even though he looks like one?”

”Lance.” Kyleth watched the lanky one (Lance?) look away at Shiro’s words. “We’re human.”

Human. Not Galra.

Kyleth shook his head. “You have to be Galra. You look like me.”

”Look...” Shiro raised his hands again. “Why don’t you come with us? You have a lot of questions, and we do too. Maybe we can figure them out together.”

Willingly follow... them. Kyleth narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to trick me?”

”No. We want answers too.”

Kyleth considered it.

And put his blade away. “Fine. But I won’t hesitate to kill all of you if you turn on me,” he told them.

He heard Lance muttering something and he ignored it, watching how Shiro relaxed, lowering his hands. “Have you been further in?” Shiro asked him.

”No.”

”Then let’s go.”

Kyleth watched Shiro take lead, and followed behind them all, feeling... unhappy. He wasn’t sure they were telling the truth about not being Galra. They could be lying to him... but... why would they? Why would they be talking in a completely different language and telling him they’re a thing called ‘human’? What would that give them?

Especially since... he looked like them.

He looked human.

But... he was Galra. The blade proved it. It wouldn’t awake for a non-Galra.

At the same time... this was the first time he had seen anything even approaching looking like him.

Kyleth’s head hurt.

Hopefully there would be answers further in.

”Hey, so...” The large one came closer to him, rubbing the back of his own head. “Sorry about all that. We didn’t expect to see anyone else down here, especially someone so human looking. Name’s Hunk, by the way. What’s yours?”

”Does it matter?” Kyleth snapped as they walked.

”Well, yeah. We’re all trying to figure stuff out together. Might as well know everyone’s name, right? I’m Hunk, that’s Lance,” he pointed to the lanky one, which he had already guessed was Lance, “that’s Pidge,” he pointed to the short one, “and you know Shiro. So what’s your name?”

Kyleth made an annoyed noise.

”Dude, give it up,” Lance shot back over his shoulder. “He’s a grumpy space alien thing.”

Kyleth ignored him.

”I guess I’ll uh... leave you alone then.” Hunk walked away, his entire body language dejected. Which was fine. He didn’t...

They entered a room with two pods. Kyleth frowned, going to one. A woman rested inside... dead? He went to the other, seeing a man in that one. A hissing sound made him turn, pulling his blade as the pod for the woman opened, and she fell into Lance’s arms.

She had... dark skin and pointed ears. And silver hair. And... what were those under her eyes?

But when she pinched Lance’s ear, driving him to the ground, he raised his sword, eyes narrowed. Whatever she was, she was hostile. The woman’s eyes lighted on him, and she glared at him as well. “You’re to attack me as well?” she asked, her light voice hard and angry.

”You’re attacking us,” he pointed out.

”Grumpy space alien, my pal, tell her to let me loose,” Lance begged. “This really hurts.”

The woman glared at all of them, then let Lance go, letting him scamper back to the rest. “Who are you?”

”Please, let us help you,” Shiro said, and Kyleth saw him holding his hands up again, almost as if trying to tell Kyleth to stand down. He wasn’t Kolivan. He wasn’t going to tell Kyleth to stand down. “What’s your name?”

”I’m Princess Allura of Altea. Now, please explain how you’re in my castle.”


	5. Chapter 5

Kyleth watched Princess Allura move around with her advisor, lowering his blade. He was... so very lost. There were other races out there other than Galra, he knew that, but... Kyleth wished he hadn’t made the last minute decision to put his flight helmet back on the pilot chair as one of the ‘humans’, Shiro, turned to him. “You doing okay there?” he asked, making Kyleth snort.

”You promised answers. I’m only getting more questions,” he told him flatly. “I don’t know about any Altea. Or any of this.”

”We’ll find answers,” Shiro promised and Kyleth just barely managed to not roll his eyes.

”We’ve been asleep ten thousand years,” he finally heard Princess Allura say, making him look over at her in disbelief. “All the planets - Altea - everything’s been destroyed.” There was so much grief in her voice... Kyleth looked away, not sure how to handle that. “Coran, Father is gone. Everyone... by Zarkon.”

Oh, that got his attention.

”Zarkon?” he and Shiro said together. Kyleth looked over at Shiro, shifting his blade to point at him. He knew Zarkon’s name. ‘Humans’ supposedly didn’t know about Galra. So how did he know about Zarkon?

”It’s not- I remembered.” Shiro shook his head, holding a hand out as if to calm Kyleth. “I was a prisoner of Zarkon.”

”He’s still alive?” Princess Allura gasped.

Kyleth snorted, lowering his blade. “And still expanding his grasp.” He lifted an eyebrow as the others stared at him, curious. “It’s common knowledge. He’s a tyrant. His troops have been enslaving races to further their needs in his name.”

”I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name,” Princess Allura asked, staring at him.

”You haven’t gotten any of our names,” he pointed out. “And I’m not about to give my name in front of something I don’t really understand.”

He heard Pidge muttering something and he ignored it. “He’s right,” Shiro said, and Kyleth grit his teeth. It made him angry how Shiro just... took charge like that. Like how Kolivan would. “Let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Shiro.”

The others took their turns introducing themselves until it was Kyleth’s turn. Everyone turned to him, waiting. Kyleth narrowed his eyes at them. “Come on, grumpy space alien,” Lance chided, waving to him. “We’re all waiting.”

”Kyleth,” he finally said, grudgingly. “My name’s Kyleth.”

”Yeah, that wasn’t like pulling teeth out the ass,” Pidge muttered.

Princess Allura nodded, her face stern. “Now then. How did you all get here?”

”The four of us came here on a blue lion,” Shiro told her. “By the looks of things, Kyleth came on a red one.”

”I can talk for myself,” Kyleth growled at him. “Yes. The red lion kidnapped me and brought me here.”

”Dude, they’re like... mechanical.”

Kyleth glared at Lance. “And how did you get here, then?”

Lance fell quiet.

”You’ve found the Red and Blue Lions?” Princess Allura’s voice filled with happiness at that. “Good. We’re two steps closer to forming Voltron. We will need the Green and Yellow Lions, and once we have all four, we can awake the Black Lion.”

Voltron? Didn’t Thace tell him stories about Voltron when he was a little kitten? “Isn’t Voltron... a large robot?” Kyleth asked, brow furrowed. “And isn’t it gone?”

”Yes, and if we can get all the Lions we can reform Voltron,” the Princess told him.

”And then we can defeat Zarkon!” Hunk cheered.

Defeat Zarkon. Everything the Blade of Marmora had been trying to do. Everything that he had wanted to do as a little kitten. Right in his grasp.

Kyleth looked down at his hands. At the blade in them.

”I do have to ask, Kyleth,” Princess Allura asked. “Where did you get your sword? I’ve never seen its match.”

”My mother gave it to me,” he told her, ignoring the looks of shock from the others. Why would it be shocking that a mother would give their kitten a blade? “She gave it to me when I was a little kitten.”

”Uh-”

Princess Allura frowned. “Kyleth, did you say what race you are?”

”Would it matter if I said I’m Galra?” he asked her, matching her gaze steadily.

” _Dude!_ ”

Princess Allura’s face turned stern. “You’re Galra. The Galra people have killed my family, my entire _people_ , and you stand here-”

”I stand here because I oppose Zarkon!” he shouted at her. “I always have. And I’m not the only Galra that does. I was raised by an entire group that wants him gone. Don’t paint us all with the same brush, Princess.”

”And how do I know you’re not a spy for Zarkon?” Princess Allura asked him, her face hard.

It hurt. “Because fighting against Zarkon killed my mother,” he told her. “I’m not going to-”

”Princess! There’s a Galra battleship locked on our position!”

Kyleth’s heart pounded in his throat at Coran’s words. “What?”

”Kyleth... you didn’t...” Pidge looked up at him, worried.

”I didn’t,” he snapped.

“You said we can form Voltron with all the Lions,” Shiro asked, and Kyleth let him take control this time. “Where are the other two Lions?”

  


* * *

  


It was official. He hated Shiro. Lance and Hunk went to get the Yellow Lion, while Shiro and Pidge went to get the Green Lion. Which left Kyleth to be glared at by the Alteans.

He didn’t lead the Galra to them. Unless... no, they wouldn’t be able to track him. Not through a wormhole. He didn’t lead the Galra there. It was something else.

Kyleth closed his eyes, sighing.

”Considering your fate, hm?” Coran asked.

”What?” Kyleth opened his eyes, glaring at him. “I just want to know how they found us.”

Princess Allura glared at him for a moment.

”It wasn’t because of me! How many times do I have to say it?” Kyleth started pacing, growling. He was starting to wish he had never ran away. He wouldn’t have to deal with this now.

”Kyleth... you’ve said you received your blade from your mother. That she was killed fighting Zarkon,” Princess Allura said slowly.

”Yes,” he said, teeth grit.

”How old were you?”

Kyleth sighed. “I don’t know. I was a kitten.”

”And your father? Does he fight against Zarkon as well?”

That made Kyleth shift. “I... never knew my father. I assume he’s dead as well.”

”So your father could be working for Zarkon,” she said flatly, making Kyleth bristle.

”No. He would sooner be dead than working for him.”

”Hm.” Princess Allura eyed him for a moment. “It’s interesting. You look a lot like the others. You don’t look Galra at all.”

That hurt. An old hurt. “All Galra look different,” he muttered.

”Perhaps.”

He was almost glad when the others arrived back with their Lions.

  


* * *

  


Kyleth sighed as he relaxed in the seat of the Red Lion (Red. He could feel it. That was it’s- her name. Not just a descriptor. A name). They had won. They did it.

And Voltron...

_Existed._ Was _real_. Everything he had been told as a kitten was _real_.

And he was part of it.

Kyleth grinned.

He was part of it.


	6. Chapter 6

Forming Voltron the second time was... less than easy.

Kyleth wondered if it would be easier, at least for him, if he was wearing his usual uniform and not this... flight suit and armor that Princess Allura insisted all the Paladins wear. It just felt wrong. He had grown up wearing something comfortable and lightweight in comparison to this. Wearing something as bulky as armor... he understood why they had to, but it just felt wrong.

He also wondered if it was because Shiro and Princess Allura both were trying to lead the Paladins, in their own way, and they seemed to clash. Princess Allura wanted results, while Shiro... seemed to be guiding them. Either way, it rubbed Kyleth the wrong way. He wanted Kolivan back. He’d do anything Kolivan said at this point, even scrub the privy.

Everything was just so... new and different. And he didn’t like it.

Kyleth sighed, going to bed. Maybe things would be better in the morning. With any amount of luck, Shiro and Princess Allura would talk and come to an understanding about how to lead the group.

That still left the... others. Which he wasn’t sure about yet. Lance kept saying things to Princess Allura, which made her give him an exasperated look. He never really... did anything else, just commented on how pretty she was. Which... Kyleth guessed she was. He didn’t know what was pretty for an Altean.

Kyleth rubbed the round shell of his ear. The Alteans had pointed ears. Graceful. But the others had ears like his. And it was the only time he had seen round ears like his. Kolivan had told him that all Galra looked different, but... why did he look the same as humans? Nothing could change the fact he was Galra, but... no, Galra couldn’t breed with any other species. It was stupid to think that maybe he was human too.

He closed his eyes.

Only to open them in what felt like too short a time later as an alarm blared. He didn’t have to even think. Kyleth dressed in his usual uniform and grabbed his blade, barely even noticing where he was. He had trained for this. Intruders. The rest of the Blades would be sweeping the area. All he had to do was-

Then it penetrated who was talking.

And what Coran was saying.

He sighed, going to the control room. Everyone else was waiting, and Kyleth felt almost disappointment coming from Shiro. He shrugged it off, glaring at them. “If there had been intruders they would have overrun us by now,” Kyleth told them, coldly. “They would have swarmed in while you were talking here.”

The rest of them looked at each other, blinking. “Kyleth,” Princess Allura started before he shook his head.

”I’ve been fighting this war longer than you think, Princess,” he told her. “The alarm you used was the one we used to indicate intruders. Not an attack.”

”And how do we know you weren’t searching the castle for secrets while we were all here,” Lance asked, crossing his arms. “We barely know you.”

Kyleth whirled on Lance. “You also know I helped you beat back the Galra! I formed Voltron with you! What is it going to take for you to trust me? You know I’m fighting on your side.”

”We know you _say_ you’re on our side.”

”Enough, Lance,” Shiro told him. “And Kyleth. We know almost nothing about you other than you claim to be Galra and are fighting back against Zarkon.”

Kyleth grit his teeth.

”Maybe if we knew more about you-”

”I also don’t know anything about you, Shiro,” he shot back at him. “I don’t know anything about any of you. All I know is we’re supposed to be fighting towards a common goal.”

”That might be a great bonding exercise,” Shiro said, smiling gently. “We should all talk about ourselves. Get to know each other a little more.”

Kyleth could see Lance and Hunk get excited and Pidge... look away. He narrowed his eyes. What was Pidge hiding?

”I have to tell you in advance,” Shiro continued, “I don’t really remember much about... how long was it?”

”A year,” Lance told him. “You were gone a year.”

Shiro nodded. “I don’t remember much about the past year. Or... some of it before that.”

”Why not?” Kyleth asked, glaring at him.

”Amnesia,” Shiro said simply. “From what I can tell, there’s a lot of things I had to do as a captive that I... purposely blocked out. Or it was blocked out for me. I... really can’t remember.”

Kyleth looked away. The Galra might do that to him. Take his memories.

”Fine. You want to know more about me?” he bit out, looking back at them. “I’m the youngest Blade of Marmora. I was raised by them. Trained as long as I can remember to fight Zarkon. And now I can. Now I have the chance to actually fight back if you would actually _trust_ me!”

”Look Keith- can I call you Keith? Like Kyleth kind of sounds like Keith and Keith is more a human name and you look really human.”

Kyleth glared at Lance.

”Kyleth then. We don’t know anything about the Blade of Mar-whatever. You could have just made that up.”

”Then how about we go meet them?” he shot back. “We can take our Lions to one of their bases. You can meet Kolivan.”

”No.” Princess Allura’s voice was hard. “You are not taking the Lions anywhere.”

”Then what will it take for you to believe me?!”

”Perhaps I may have an idea!” Coran piped up. “The Paladins of old would use a mind meld device as a bonding technique. Perhaps seeing inside each other’s heads might help put your doubts at ease!”

That was not... Kyleth nodded. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s do it.”

Maybe they’d believe him after that.

  


* * *

  


The mind meld was a disaster. Kyleth felt like he should have seen that coming. But no, as Pidge stalked away, he rubbed his forehead, wondering what just happened. Who was it Pidge had been thinking of? He just... didn’t understand. Any of this. He wanted to be _home._

He looked up as someone came near, and saw Shiro standing there. “What?” he snapped at him.

”Come walk with me,” Shiro told him, stepping back a little. Kyleth rolled his eyes, and stood up. The two of them walked away from the rest of the group until Shiro stopped, rubbing the back of his head. “Look, I know things are hard right now.”

”You don’t know half of it,” Kyleth muttered.

”We’re all trying,” Shiro told him, his voice kind. “After what happened, we all don’t know what to do. And we haven’t even tried to reform Voltron since then.”

Kyleth rubbed his head. “Ever since I said I was Galra, no one wants to believe me,” he muttered. “I’m not...”

A hand clasped his shoulder, and Kyleth looked up at Shiro in surprise. Why was he touching him? “We’ll come around,” Shiro told him. “I think it’ll just take us a little bit.”

”I just... I’m not going to betray any of you. I want what all of you want. I want to stop Zarkon too. Just... none of you want me to help you.”

”That’s not true.” Shiro gave him a small smile. “I want you to. You’re a good teammate, Kyleth.”

Kyleth closed his eyes for a moment, then looked back up at him. “You’re the only one that thinks that.”

”I think Hunk does too,” Shiro pointed out. “And Lance... I think he wants to be your friend, but he’s not sure how.”

”And Pidge?”

Shiro thought about that for a second. “Pidge... is different,” he said carefully, making Kyleth roll his eyes. “The best thing is to let Pidge make the first move.”

”Fine,” he muttered. “So everyone wants to be my friend but doesn’t know how. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?”

”Just let people get to know you,” Shiro said. “Right now, we don’t really know you. We don’t know what you’ll do. You just keep... getting angry.”

Kyleth looked away.

Shiro squeezed his shoulder before dropping his hand. “We should get back. We need to train, and to practice forming Voltron. Just think about it.”

Slowly, Kyleth nodded as Shiro walked away. Thinking about it.

He just... wanted them to believe him.


	7. Chapter 7

Get to know him.

Get to know him.

... how?

Kyleth grunted, pulling his bayard up to block a blow from the gladiator. He’d rather use his blade, but... he couldn’t keep that on him at all times from now on. The bayard was part of the uniform. And... even if he’d rather use his sword, he couldn’t deny the bayard felt perfect in his hands. It just... was different.

He should get used to different, Kyleth thought as he defeated the gladiator. He was surrounded in it. Everyone around him, the location... everything. Training like this was normal, but even then, it wasn’t. He missed Kolivan.

Kyleth sighed, leaving. He missed everyone. A part of him wanted to take the Red Lion and go home, but... he was needed here. He wasn’t going to leave.

They had taken down a robotic beast, and Kyleth’s skin crawled at the mere memory. He hadn’t know Zarkon had beasts like that in his army. But he had defeated it as part of Voltron. No one had said anything to him about how he had helped, he couldn’t possibly be on Zarkon’s side. Which just-!

What could he do to make them understand?

Kyleth shook his head, leaving the training room. Princess Allura had mentioned something about a celebration with the locals regarding their victory. He should clean up before then and get dressed in his armor. It would be the only clean thing he had at the moment, after all. Kyleth frowned at the thought, realizing maybe he might need to get some... more clothing. He had more uniforms back at the base, but all he had here was this one uniform and his Paladin uniform.

Actually, wasn’t that true of all of them, he realized. Princess Allura and Coran would be the only ones with changes of clothing as this was their castle. Everyone else came with the clothes they were wearing when they left.

Maybe... he could bond with them over that? Kyleth shook his head. That just sounded stupid.

But he got ready. He was going to this celebration. He was going to go, have fun, and maybe bond with the other Paladins. The others... they needed to know he was on their side. Both Voltron and the Blade of Marmora were on the same side. He needed to... to show them that.

He hoped he could show them that.

When he made his way out, the celebration had already started. Kyleth watched everyone talk, the easy way Lance and Hunk spoke to each other, Shiro speaking to Pidge for a moment before heading off on his own... he took a deep breath. Just join them.

Hunk looked over at him, and waved a hand. “Yo, Kyleth!”

Just join them.

Kyleth came over to them, smiling a little awkwardly. “Hey guys.”

Lance squinted at him. “Hunk, am I dreaming or is grumpy space alien smiling?”

Kyleth stopped smiling.

”No, no! I didn’t- I just meant you haven’t smiled since we met you. It was weird to see. I didn’t know you knew how to smile.”

”I know how to smile,” Kyleth snapped at Lance.

”Whoa.” Hunk raised his hands. “Calm down. It’s a party! You two don’t need to be at each other’s throats.”

”I’m not-!” Kyleth took a deep breath. “This was a mistake,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “I’m not going to fit in with you guys.” He turned to leave, only to feel a hand on his arm.

”Hey.” Lance’s voice was quietly serious. “I’m not making fun of you. And I know- look, you’ve been doing a lot of stuff against Zarkon since we met you. I mean, unless this is all to get battle data for Zarkon so he knows how Voltron fights.”

”But we’re pretty certain it’s not,” Hunk chimed in. “You could have betrayed us and had us taken out in the last fight pretty easily, but you didn’t. You fought with us.”

Kyleth looked down at Lance’s hand on his arm. Then he pulled it free, looking away. “I’m not- I don’t like people touching me,” he said, uncomfortable. “Most people.”

”Most- oh ho.” Lance grinned. “And who would not be ‘most people’?”

He shrugged. “Do I need to talk about this?” he asked, even more uncomfortable. He didn’t want to explain how he was okay with Thace patting him on the shoulder or messing with his fur. He just... didn’t want to explain anything. It was just... he was okay with Thace touching him. It was always okay like that.

”Dude, if you don’t want to talk about your girlfriend, it’s okay,” Hunk told him, shooting a look at Lance. Lance nodded at that. “If you don’t feel comfortable talking about her, it’s okay.”

”It’s not-!” Kyleth growled, looking away. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he muttered. “I’m the only one of my age group at the base. All the other Galra were too old for me.”

”Ah, a crush,” Lance said wisely. “We all have those. You should see this girl I liked back home. My sisters would tease me so much about her...” Lance trailed off for a moment, then shook his head. “Man, you having a crush makes you seem more human. Or, Galra, I guess. More relatable?”

Kyleth shifted, uncomfortable.

Lance fell silent for a moment. “I guess I should go,” he finally said. “You know, remove this foot from my mouth and all.” Kyleth watched him go in confusion, looking up at Hunk as he left, opening his mouth before closing it.

”Oh, right, you wouldn’t know the phrase ‘stuck my foot in my mouth.’” Hunk rubbed the back of his head. “Basically, he thought he made a fool of himself.”

”Then why didn’t he say that?” Kyleth asked, still confused.

Hunk shrugged. “It’s just a saying we have. We’re just surprised to learn more about you. I mean- you have a crush!”

”It’s... not a crush,” Kyleth said awkwardly. “I just... don’t mind it when Thace touches me. He’s usually really nice when he does it.”

That made Hunk go quiet. “Oh. Oh, um... Oh.”

”What?” Kyleth snapped at him. He didn’t like the way Hunk said that.

”Nothing! It’s cool!”

Kyleth growled at him.

”No, really. It’s cool.”

”Hunk...”

”Kyleth? Hunk?” Shiro’s voice interrupted them. “Team meeting.”

Those were amazing words to hear right about now.

  


* * *

  


”You can’t leave.” Kyleth’s felt his heart pounding in his chest. Why was Pidge wanting to leave? Why- they had a chance to defeat Zarkon now! Why would Pidge risk that? “You- we need you. We need all the Lions to form Voltron, and to- to defeat Zarkon.” He felt Shiro’s presence next to him, and he ignored him. “You can’t-”

”You can’t tell me what to do, Kyleth,” Pidge told him coldly. “You’re not my dad. My dad’s out there, somewhere, waiting for me.”

”That shouldn’t matter! We need Voltron to-”

”Kyleth.” Shiro’s hand came down on his shoulder. “We can’t force anyone to stay. That’s not what a team is. But Pidge... please think about this.”

”I have. And I’m going. You’ll need to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion.”

Kyleth closed his eyes, frustrated. He had felt like there was a chance of beating Zarkon and then- Pidge did this. And now they couldn’t. They couldn’t beat him without the Green Lion. They had lost before they had begun.

With a growl, Kyleth turned away from the group. They had been so close...

And then an explosion rocked the palace and Kyleth stumbled as the castle powered down. What was that? Where- he narrowed his eyes, nodding at Shiro. All of them turned, running for the source. It was coming from-

Kyleth stopped as he saw Coran and Lance laying in the rubble. They had been caught in the explosion. They had been... hurt...

He had seen people be hurt. Hurt worse than this. He had seen Galra on the edge of death before as they came back to base, back to safety to heal. But this- this- he had fought next to Lance. Coran had helped him in battle. They were- they shouldn’t be hurt. His people shouldn’t be hurt.

Kyleth’s hands clenched.

He was going to find who did this and rip them to shreds.

He was going to find the Galra that did this to his _team_ and _rip them to bloody shreds._


	8. Chapter 8

”Our village is under attack.”

Kyleth wanted to growl at the Arusian leader. Of course it was. But his... his friends were hurt. Coran was moving, was okay, but Lance... Lance was still hurt and they couldn’t fix that. Not with the castle down.

He put a hand to his head.

What was it that Kolivan was always telling him? Patience? He was going to throw that aside right now and just- keep the rest of the ones around him from being hurt. The Arusians were being attacked. He was going to go stop it. “I’ll go to the village,” he snapped out, startling Coran out of middle of a sentence. For a moment, Kyleth felt bad about it. He... didn’t mean to interrupt Coran. “I- I mean, I’ll go see what’s going on.”

”I’ll go with you.” Kyleth blinked as Princess Allura stepped forward. But he supposed he understood. They still didn’t trust him. But her face was... sad. “I brought this upon the poor Arusians.”

Kyleth frowned. Why did she think that?

Shiro nodded at them. “I’ll stay here with Lance.”

Kyleth’s heart suddenly knotted. He- “Be careful,” he blurted out, suddenly worried. “Everyone. Be careful.”

Everyone stared at him in surprise. “We’ll be fine,” Shiro told him. “Go. Check on the village.”

Kyleth nodded, turning to go. The princess came up beside him, placing a hand on his arm. “I will meet you outside,” she told him, lowering her hand. “I need to get changed.”

”Okay.”

He didn’t know how long to wait. Everyone he knew changed quickly, or lived in their uniforms. It was normal to just... always be in uniform. So he didn’t know how long to stand there, every moment feeling like forever, even if it probably was just slightly longer than usual. He just... needed to be down there. He needed to help. Finally, Princess Allura jogged up to him, a flight suit on and her hair piled up on her head. Kyleth blinked, not expecting to see this side of her. It was... different. “Let’s go,” she told him, and he nodded, leaving with her.

It took too long to get to the village. Too, too long. Kyleth wished the castle was working so they could have gotten to their Lions, but... they had to run. They had to go as fast as they could. When they arrived, Kyleth stared over the burning village, his heart pounding. “I’ll go in for a closer look,” he told her, rushing down to slide into the village. He had to do something. He had to... to help. To prove he was trustworthy-

Then he heard-

”Kyleth!”

”What?” Kyleth looked up at Princess Allura, at the wide-eyed look on her face. And knew she knew something. And then- “It was a trap. They wanted to separate us!” He started cursing under his breath, words he knew Thace would cuff him over the head for, and used his jetpack to fly back up. “We need to get back,” he told her as she nodded, not even needing to hear what he needed to say.

By the time they got back, it was too late. The particle barrier had been raised.

Shiro, Lance, and Pidge were still inside.

”No...” Kyleth whispered in horror. “We need to get in there-”

”Kyleth.” Princess Allura turned to him. “We must remain-”

”My _team_ is in there!” Kyleth growled at her, slamming his hand against the barrier. “I-”

”Kyleth, can you hear me?”

Pidge. “Yeah. I can hear you.” He narrowed his eyes, taking several measured breaths. “What’s going on?”

”Galra named Sendak’s got Shiro and Lance. He wants to launch the castle.”

Princess Allura’s eyes widened. “They cannot be allowed to do that! Pidge, you’ll have to stop them.” She started listing commands, and Kyleth stopped listening, looking up at the castle. He couldn’t get to his team. He was... useless out here.

That was it. Kyleth was useless without his team.

He closed his eyes as the princess and Pidge talked. They’d figure this out. He... he didn’t know what he’d do. He’d... do something.

Eventually.

  


* * *

  


Sendak.

Now he had eyes on Sendak.

He didn’t even need to hear the princess’s encouragement. Kyleth had his bayard out as he rushed at Sendak, watching his movements. He had trained for this, against a member of Zarkon’s army. He could do this. Quickly, he dodged Sendak’s swipes, blocking his claws with his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pidge’s bayard come out, wrapping around Sendak’s leg. Kyleth grinned, seeing his chance. He dashed forward-

Galra blood splashed across the floor-

And Sendak stumbled back, two fingers shears cleanly off his hands.

Kyleth felt disappointed.

He meant to take the whole hand.

But a particle barrier sprung up between the two of them, locking Sendak away from the rest of them. Keep Sendak away from his blade.

No, no that wasn’t right. He was going to rip Sendak apart for daring to hurt his team. He had seen Sendak hurting Pidge. Shiro had been hurt. Lance- he didn’t-

Kyleth took a deep breath.

He couldn’t do anything about this. Sendak was already sealed in that thing. Kyleth deactivated his bayard, going to Lance. “You okay?”

Lance gave him a thumbs up, weary as he closed his eyes again.

Good. He went over to Pidge. “Hey. You okay?”

”Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.”

Good. Pidge was... tiny. It worried him when someone so tiny got hurt. Finally, he went to Shiro, taking a deep breath as Princess Allura freed him from his bonds. “Sir,” he said, straightening his back. This was basically his new Kolivan. He better treat him with some respect.

Shiro stared at him for a moment, confused. “Kyleth? Is something wrong?”

”This... things happened. Don’t you want to hear about it?”

After a moment, Shiro sighed. “I would, but right now...” He looked over at Sendak. “We should get a few more things in order. We’ll all have a debrief later.”

When Kyleth turned around, he could see Pidge nodding, making a decision. “When we do, I have something to say,” Pidge told them. “It’s... kind of important.”

”Of course,” Shiro said kindly. “But first, Princess?” He nodded to Sendak.

Her face hardened. “I may have a solution.”

Did it involve killing him? Kyleth hoped it did.

  


* * *

  


It did not involve killing Sendak.

Kyleth was disappointed.


	9. Chapter 9

”And that was what happened, sir,” Kyleth finished. This was how everyone reported to Kolivan. And Shiro was now his Kolivan, whether he liked it or not. He would need to treat Shiro with respect, and report to him. Be respectful. Shiro was the leader of Voltron.

Shiro, for his part, just nodded. “Thank you.” He looked over at Lance, his face worried. Kyleth didn’t understand why - Lance looked fine. He’d probably be out soon. “Coran, how much longer?”

”I would say just a few more ticks!”

Kyleth nodded as everyone else looked confused. He glanced at them, wondering why they were confused. “Should he be in there longer?” Kyleth asked, looking at Shiro. “He looks fine to me, so a few more ticks should be just about enough time.”

”No, it’s... we don’t know what a tick is.”

”It’s... like... a tick.” Kyleth tapped his finger against his forearm. “You know what a tick is.”

”A time slice,” Princess Allura piped in. “A short one.”

”Like a second?”

Kyleth rubbed his face, wishing Lance would wake up and interrupt this conversation. He didn’t understand it at all, and he wanted his team together. The sound of the cryopod opening met his ears and he turned, excited. Lance was ready. Now everything would be okay. “Lance!”

”Man, Kyleth, I never thought you’d be happy to see me,” Lance commented. “What’s going on here?”

”We’re measuring ticks against seconds,” Pidge told him, somehow holding a timepiece and Kyleth just shrugged at Lance. He didn’t get it either.

”Neat. Hey, I’m going to go get something to eat. Beautiful princess, would you wish to accompany me?” Princess Allura closed her eyes, and Lance grinned. “I’ll go alone then. Or, Kyleth, you want to come with me? We can chat about how you’re actually happy to see me.”

Kyleth shifted, uneasy. He really wasn’t up to socializing right now.

”I need some time alone anyway. See ya!” Lance started off, his legs wobbling, and Hunk turned to the group.

”I’m going to go with Lance,” he told them. “He just woke up and needs someone to talk to.”

Shiro nodded. “We all should probably-”

Hunk shook his head. “I need to talk to him alone. I think something’s bothering him and he’ll open up to me.” He looked over at Kyleth, then back at Shiro. “Um, Shiro, I kind of do want to talk to you later, though.”

Ugh. Kyleth rolled his eyes. He thought they were past being suspicious of him.

”Can... you get Lance back here really fast?” Pidge asked. “I have something to say.”

”I’ll go get him,” Shiro told them, leaving.

Kyleth turned to the rest of them, crossing his arms. “So now what? What do we do now?”

”We need to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people,” Hunks said, his face set stubbornly. “She helped us, and it was a great risk to her and her people. And they’re... man, you didn’t see what it was like there. They need help. The Galra are killing the Balmera.”

Kyleth nodded. “That’s what I heard they do. I agree, we should help them, but- if we’re going to go help them, shouldn’t we also get allies? The Blade of Marmora would be more than happy to help.”

Everyone looked at each other, and Kyleth’s teeth grit. They had to be beyond this already.

”We may not have time,” Princess Allura said finally. “If what Hunk is saying is true, Shay and her people may not have enough time for us to find allies. We should help them first before finding allies. We will seek out this... Blade of Marmora after we help the Balmera.”

Kyleth felt hope bubbling through his chest. Did they believe him? Trust him? Would they actually go look for the Blade of Marmora after this? He nodded as Lance came back with Shiro, holding onto that hope that they would do that. That they believed him, finally.

”What’s up? I was just about to eat,” Lance said casually.

”We just made the decision to help Shay and the rest of Balmerans and Pidge has something to say,” Princess Allura told him.

”Cool,” Lance said. “Help Hunk’s girlfriend. And what’s up, Pidge?”

Pidge took a deep breath. “I’ve... been kind of lying to you guys.” Kyleth’s hand strayed to his bayard at those words, his eyes narrowing. “I’m not a boy. I’m a girl. I mean, if this changes things between all of us or something, but I just didn’t want any secrets-”

”Wait.” Kyleth looked over at Lance, seeing the utter shock on his face. “You’re a girl?!”

”I’ve known for some time,” Allura told her, kindly.

”Me too,” Hunk chimed in.

”We were supposed to believe you were a boy?” Coran asked, confused.

Kyleth frowned. “Does it make a difference? You’re still an excellent warrior.”

Shiro smiled at her. “Owning up to who you are will make you a better Paladin.”

Pidge just looked at all of them, tears forming in her eyes. “Wow guys. Especially you, Kyleth, I didn’t think of it that way. But yeah. That feels good, getting it off my chest. Now let’s get this castle-ship thing launched!”

”Hey, whoa, I was just about to eat, and you were going to keep me out of the loop about the fact Pidge is a girl _and_ the castle is a ship?! What the hell, guys?!”

  


* * *

  


”Kyleth? Can I talk to you?”

Shiro. Kyleth turned around, wiping his face with the towel around his shoulders. Today’s sparring session had been particularly rough. Something felt... off about the gladiators today. “Yes, sir?”

”Hunk’s told me some... rather alarming things.” Kyleth just barely kept from rolling his eyes. Damn it. He really thought they were past this. “I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay.”

”Everything’s fine,” Kyleth just barely managed not to snap at him.

”If you ever need to talk about anything,” Shiro told him, “we’re all here. We won’t judge you.”

This wasn’t what he was expecting. Kyleth furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”

”You deserve everything good,” Shiro continued. “And if anyone ever treats you... less than that or touches you-”

”Sir, what are you talking about?” Kyleth demanded.

Shiro sighed. “He told me about Thace.”

That didn’t explain anything. “What about Thace?”

”Kyleth, did Thace... ever touch you?”

”Well, yes.” He really didn’t understand. “When I did well. I didn’t like it when he touched my fur, but that was when I was a kitten. He’s mostly done what you do when I grew up, shoulder clasps and back pats.”

”Your fur?”

Kyleth motioned to it, sitting sweat soaked on top of his head. “You have it too. All of you have fur.”

”You mean our hair? He’d ruffle your hair?”

”Fur. And yeah.”

Shiro looked like he was putting things together, then his eyes widened. “Kyleth, what all did Thace do?”

”Why?” He really wasn’t understanding. “I mean... it wasn’t anything special. It was a lot like the others: praised me when I was doing well, pat my back or something... it was just... nice when he did it.”

Shiro looked like he had put something together. “I see.” He shifted, uncomfortable. “I’m sorry I-” He cleared his throat. “Kyleth, if you like men, we’re not-”

”Sir.” Kyleth rubbed his forehead. “I don’t understand any of where this is going and I need to clean up. Can we talk about this later?”

”Of course.”

What was that all about? Kyleth walked away, not understanding. Why had he asked so much about Thace? What had he meant about people not treating him well? He had said that Thace had been nice to him to Hunk, so those two couldn’t be related. And then that whole thing about liking men...

He just didn’t get it.

Maybe he’d ask later. But who? He didn’t know who’d give him a good answer. Maybe ask Shiro? If Shiro would explain it. Maybe Hunk would.

He just... didn’t know how relevant what they’d say would be for a Galra.

Liking men... what did that mean?


	10. Chapter 10

It was getting to the point that Kyleth realized just how little he was told growing up. Certainly, he had been told about Zarkon, and the evils of the Galra empire, but he wasn’t always in battles with them. Sometimes, like now, like after helping free the Balmerans, he had a quiet moment. And in those quiet moments, he had to deal with Lance and Hunk.

It wasn’t... he didn’t _hate_ them, he decided. He just didn’t like the... humanness of them? The casualness? They kept trying to chat with him, and he didn’t understand it. Hunk in particular tried a little hard to make him feel included and Kyleth just did not understand. But... he didn’t want to give them a reason to distrust him again. So he stayed until he couldn’t deal with them anymore.

He was about to reach that point.

”After that, I decided I did not need to sneak out of the house.” Lance shivered. “I mean, I knew my mom was scary, but seeing her wrath being taken out on one of my sisters for sneaking out to meet her girlfriend... nope. I did not need that in my life.”

”I hear you,” Hunk said sympathetically. “I didn’t even want to consider what it would be like if I snuck out to meet a girl with how my mother is.”

Both of them turned to Kyleth. What was he supposed to say? “You know I didn’t have anyone my age, right?” he pointed out. “So there was no reason for me to sneak out of my room to meet anyone.”

”So no special guy or girl you had your eye on?” Lance asked, resting his elbow on the table and leaning forward.

Kyleth had a feeling he meant something by that. “No,” he grit out. “We’re fighting a war, Lance. I didn’t have time to worry about that kind of thing.”

”So you had like... no crushes on anyone? At all?”

That was enough. Kyleth stood, leaving. He didn’t understand any of what they said. Sometimes it was about their childhood and they wanted to know more about his, but they got so nosy... and sometimes it was stuff like this. He didn’t understand any of it.

He just... he did want to belong, but at what price? He didn’t understand any of this. And no one was explaining it. No one was explaining why they were asking questions like that or bugging him like this.

Kyleth sighed, going to his room. He should probably get dressed to go train. He hadn’t done that today. Maybe he’d ask Shiro as well. It would be nice to go up against someone. And Shiro was a different type of opponent than he was used to. He hadn’t realized before that he would need to go up against a different kind of opponent than he was used to fighting, that he would have to learn how to adapt. But he could do it.

He stopped by Shiro door, knocking. Kyleth straightened his back as he waited, then remembered he and Princess Allura would be working with Sendak’s sleeping body to extract his memories. He didn’t want to interrupt Shiro while he was doing that. So that meant he would be training alone. That was fine. Kyleth turned to go get ready.

When he got down there, something felt off. The door didn’t open quite as fast as it should have. And just... something just felt... off. Completely off. Kyleth frowned, holding his bayard up. What was off? He narrowed his eyes as the training simulation started.

It became obvious when the training level was higher than he had set it. Higher than he could ever hope to beat it. “End simulation,” Kyleth barked, backing up.

The gladiator didn’t stop attacking.

”End simulation!”

It didn’t stop.

Kyleth ran.

  


* * *

  


”Help! I’m going to be sucked out!”

Kyleth dodged another swipe, hearing Lance’s voice. Damn it. What was going on? He leapt backward, then slid under the next swing, racing towards Lance. “I’m coming,” he called, turning suddenly to block a swing. “Damn it!” He kicked out, pushing the gladiator back far enough so he could rush to the airlock.

Lance’s eyes were wide as Kyleth stopped in front of the doors, a mechanical voice counting down. “Get me out of here!”

Kyleth turned towards the controls, only to have to block another strike. “Hold on!”

”What’s that?!”

”Hold on!” Kyleth snapped at him, kicking the robot away. He saw the airlock starting to open, and he grit his teeth. “Hold onto something!”

”What are you- Kyleth!” Lance wailed, holding onto a handhold on the wall as the doors opened. Kyleth slammed the controls, leaning up against the wall as the doors opened on his end, sucking the gladiator out. He pushed the button again, closing the airlock before Lance could be sucked out, and sighed as he collapsed against the floor, eyes closing.

”Are you okay?” he called, not moving.

”Yeah. What just happened?”

”I don’t know.”

Kyleth sat there for a moment, then stood slowly. He could hear Lance doing the same, coming out of the airlock. “We need to find the others,” Kyleth told him.

Lance nodded.

  


* * *

  


It had been the corrupt data from the Galra crystal.

Kyleth closed his eyes as he sat down, leaning back in the seat on the bridge. Out of everything that it could have been, it had been Galra.

... it didn’t make it easier. Everything Galra so far for them had been bad, except for Kyleth. He had been the only good thing for them, being on their side. But even then... they would have all the reasons to not trust him anymore after this. Anything Galra kept hurting them.

He wished they could find the Blade of Marmora. Go, find one of their bases. He would introduce himself and they would prove not all Galra were bad. That they could help them and they could take down Zarkon together.

Kyleth sighed.

”Hey.” He opened his eyes as Shiro knelt down beside him. Shiro’s eyes looked... a little haunted, but concerned. “You doing okay?”

Kyleth nodded. “Yeah. It’s... been a long day.”

Shiro nodded. “It has. You want to talk about it?”

Did he? What would he talk about? Kyleth shrugged. “I don’t know what we’d talk about.”

”Anything you want.”

Kyleth closed his eyes.

”I don’t understand anything that’s going on,” he finally said. “Not...” He waved his hand. “Like, what just happened. I mean in every day. People keep asking me things or talking about things and I don’t understand any of it. You kept asking me stuff about Thace and I don’t understand why. Lance and Hunk keep talking to me and I just- I don’t understand.”

Shiro sighed. “Kyleth, when I asked you about Thace, it was because Hunk had told me what you had told him. What you had said... is sometimes what is said by victims of abuse.”

Kyleth’s eyes went wide. “Thace didn’t abuse me!”

Shiro smiled a little at him. “I see that now. But we were worried about you. And now, I think, they just want you to feel like you belong with them. That you’re not being cut out of the conversation.”

”But I- I don’t fit into the conversation. I’m not human. Everything they talk about, I don’t have any kind of... relatable experience.”

Shiro sighed. “Maybe... you could explain that to them? Tell them what it was like growing up?”

Kyleth looked down at his hands.

Shiro smiled, standing and ruffling his fur. Kyleth frowned at him. “You’ll be okay. I’d like to know more about you too, actually. My knowledge of who the Galra are is limited to bad things. It’d be nice to know something good.”

”Oh. Um...” Kyleth shook his head. “I don’t know where to start.”

”Start where you’re comfortable, and we’ll all go from there.”

Kyleth considered that for a moment, then nodded.

”Um... the first time I met Thace... I was a kitten. A little bit of an older kitten. And he... looked really cool and was actually impressed by me. I didn’t know I could impress someone so cool. So I always wanted to do that. He’s... really nice. I like him a lot. And I want to impress him a lot.”

Shiro chuckled and Kyleth glared up at him. “Nothing. What did you do that made Thace so impressed?”

Kyleth’s back straightened. “My flying.”

”Well of course he’d be impressed by that,” he heard Lance say and he stiffened. He hadn’t even heard Lance come up behind him. “You’re a really great pilot. I would say almost as good as me.”

”I would say I’m better,” Kyleth snapped at him.

Shiro held up his hands. “Whoa there. Kyleth, why don’t you tell us what you did to impress Thace?”

Kyleth grinned.


	11. Chapter 11

”You’re crazy, Kyleth!” Lance laughed, leaning back in his seat. “If you had been just one second slower, you would have gotten blown up!”

Kyleth did the mental conversion of second to tick, and shrugged. “I won.”

”But you would have died doing it,” Hunk told him, his eyes wide.

”That’s what made it fun,” Kyleth argued. “Just flying normally, doing what they said... it was boring. I could do it in my sleep. When I took that risk, I managed to beat them faster than they thought, and actually beat them.”

”You’re still crazy,” Lance told him, patting his back. “So, Thace saw that one? Did he chew you out for being dumb?”

”Chew me...?” Kyleth gave him a puzzled look. “He wasn’t angry, if that’s what you meant. He praised me for my quick thinking.” He smiled. “So did Kolivan, for once.”

Lance frowned. “You keep mentioning Kolivan. Guy who leads you, right? What’s he like?”

Kyleth shrugged. “A leader. He pushes me to be the best I can be.” He took a breath to say more when Coran’s voice over the intercom system interrupted him.

”Paladins! To the Star Room!”

”What now?” Lance moaned as they stood.

”You shouldn’t be whining,” Kyleth scolded him. “We’re fighting a war. We’re going to have to get up and fight at any given moment.”

”Yeah, but I was having fun talking to you. It took a while for you to talk about yourself. And I’d like to know more about you. I mean, I’d like to know why a Galra looks so human when all we’ve seen are like... purple and tall and furry.”

Kyleth looked away. “All Galra look different,” he muttered.

Lance went quiet for a moment. “Hey,” he finally said. “I didn’t mean- I mean, you just look different. I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

Kyleth sighed. “I know you didn’t. It’s just... I grew up not looking the same and wondering why I didn’t. I don’t know why I look so different than everyone else. And I wish I did. All I know is all Galra look different and- and that’s it.”

Lance clasped his shoulder as they joined the rest of the group. “You’ll find out eventually.”

”Find out what?” Shiro asked, suspicious. “Lance-”

”Nothing bad! Nothing bad!”

Shiro eyed him, then sighed. “We’ve checked out the coordinates you’ve given us,” he told Kyleth. “Can you double check them?”

”Of course.” Kyleth came forward, looking at what they had entered. “Yeah. That looks right. What’s wrong?”

”No known planets are at that location,” Allura told him. “If I am correct, it appears two black holes are there.”

”What?” Pidge yelped by her computer.

Kyleth nodded. “That sounds correct.”

”Kyleth, you grew up _there_?”

He shifted, uneasy. “Yeah? I mean, is that bad?”

Lance and Hunk shook their head, muttering something Kyleth didn’t catch under their breaths. He looked at Shiro, confused, only to see a stormy look in his eyes. Somehow, he had said something wrong and he didn’t even realize he had done it. Kyleth swallowed, lifting his chin. He didn’t know what he said, but he stood by it. He grew up there.

”I guess that’s our next stop,” Shiro finally said. “Allura, can we make a wormhole jump?”

”I would rather not put that sort of strain on the castle unless we have to,” she said, her face concerned. “If we must do a sudden jump, I would rather wait until then.”

Shiro nodded. “Then let’s start travelling in that direction. How long should it take?”

”Not long at all. We should be there in a few quintants.”

It felt good to be believed. Kyleth nodded, looking over at Allura. “Thank you.”

She nodded back at him. It was a little... she didn’t quite trust him the same as the rest, but he knew she purposely held herself away from the rest of them. Kept herself as the leader rather than... a part of them. He looked back at Shiro, feeling a little sad at that realization. Allura deserved to be happy too.

”Whoa.” Pidge sat up suddenly. “I keep finding this thing here in Sendak’s memories. Like this... ‘Universal Station.’”

”We should follow up on that later,” Shiro told the rest of them. “We need allies.”

”Yeah, but there’s... like one in our path,” Pidge told him. “We can see what it’s all about on our way there.”

”I don’t like this idea,” Kyleth told them. “We should get to base as soon as possible.”

”I think so too,” Shiro said. “But it is on our way, and we can just do an informational run. Pidge has the cloaking on the Green Lion for instance. We can get in and get out.”

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like it at all. But Kyleth nodded. Shiro was right. They didn’t need to do any fighting while they were there at all.

  


* * *

  


What was in these giant containers? Kolivan never told him anything about this? Kyleth made his way down the corridors, to where all the containers were. He pressed his back up against the wall and stared around the door, studying the glowing tubes. What was that? “You need to see this,” he said quietly over the com link. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

When he heard the droid call it quintessence, his veins felt doused with ice. How... how? Damn it. “I’m going to steal some of this,” he muttered. “Maybe we can figure out how they got so much of it.”

”Kyleth, don’t you dare-” he heard Lance say over the com link before he started down to the room, looking around.

Something told him to dodge, to pull his bayard. When he did, purple lightning hit where he had been. And- a druid. That was a druid. Kyleth swallowed. He really should have listened to Lance and not have left them. He needed to escape. Druids... he had heard of other Blades dying to druids in ticks. If he stayed, he was dead.

”Pidge! I’m going to need an extraction!”

Until then, he needed to stay alive. He dodged the lightning, weaved- only for the next blast to send him into the wall, crumpling to the ground. Kyleth groaned, standing slowly. He lifted his hand, feeling the pain in it, and-

Purple?

Kyleth lowered his hand as the druid came in again, dodging. Why was his hand streaked with purple? What... what was happening?

And then Pidge was there, rescuing him, quintessence splashing as the Green Lion made a hole in the wall. Some of it splashed on him, the purple fading from his hand. Making his skin crawl as it went back to pink and soft.

What... what was he?

  


* * *

  


”The ship is headed to Zarkon’s Central Command.”

Kyleth closed his eyes. Allura was still on the ship. And they were there. They were there, not getting her, not getting one of their leaders-

And his hand had been _purple_...

He- he didn’t know what was going on anymore.

He wished Kolivan was there.


	12. Chapter 12

”Kyleth?” Shiro settled down next to him as he didn’t look up from his hand. “You’ve been quiet.”

”We screwed up,” he whispered. “I should have- I should have argued more. I didn’t think it was a good idea at all. And now Allura’s taken and-” Kyleth clenched his hand.

Shiro reached out, covering his hand. “Kyleth.”

”I just found you guys,” he said forlornly. “All of you. And now the best plan of action is to leave Allura right there because we _can’t go up against Zarkon._ The Blade of Marmora’s been trying for... centuries. And we haven’t managed. Voltron has a better chance, but-”

”It took everything to take out one fleet,” Hunk said, worried.

”We can’t just leave Allura there,” Lance argued.

”We _have_ to,” Kyleth argued back. “We-” He cut himself off, shaking his head. “I don’t want to,” he told them, looking up at them. “I want to save her. I want to save my... my family. But going there is suicide.”

He felt Shiro’s hand squeeze his, and saw Lance look away. “We still have to try,” Lance finally said quietly. “It feels like betraying Allura if we don’t.”

Kyleth closed his eyes at that. Betraying Allura. “Fine.” He opened his eyes, looking around. “Talk about it yourselves. I- I have to go clean up.” He pulled himself away from Shiro as everyone protested, ignoring them as he left for his room.

His hand had been purple. That- his hand had been _purple._ Galra purple. But he wasn’t purple. He wasn’t- his hand was pink. Like the humans’. He- he didn’t- how did that happen? Was there something more Galra looking under the pink? But then- why? Why did he look this way? Wouldn’t they have let him look like an actual Galra back at base, like that purple he had seen?

Was... what was he? Did he come in contact with a druid when he was a young kitten? Before he could remember, and they forced him into this form? But why... why this? And wouldn’t they have _told_ him that? Why keep it from him?

Kyleth closed his eyes tightly, stopping just outside his room.

All Galra look different.

Except one Galra looked human.

And Kyleth didn’t know what that meant.

”Kyleth?”

Shiro. He turned slightly, looking behind him. “Yes, sir?”

”You okay? You seem pretty upset. You’re not even calling the princess ‘Princess Allura’ anymore.”

He wasn’t. He just... wanted her back. Safe. He wanted everyone back and safe right where they belonged. No one needed to be hurt or kidnapped. “Yes, sir.”

”Kyleth, it’s okay not to be okay with this. It’s okay to talk to us.”

”Stop talking to me like I’m human!” he spat out, spinning to meet him. “I’m not! I’m Galra!” The words started to taste like ash in his mouth. Galra. He wasn’t even completely sure of that anymore. “You can’t treat me like I’m one of your... your humans. I’m not. Everything- everything about me is different. I- I- I can try to open up to you, try to be a part of the team, but I’m never going to-”

Kyleth broke off, feeling something horrible build in his throat. Shiro stood there for a moment, then sighed. “Kyleth,” he finally said, his voice so horribly, horribly kind. “What’s actually bothering you?”

”Nothing’s bothering me!” He might not be Galra.

Shiro stared at him for a moment. Then he shook his head. “When you feel like you can talk to me, I’ll be ready to listen,” he told him, his voice still so horribly kind.

”Sir.” He couldn’t ever do that. He couldn’t- tell him he might not be Galra.

He... he might not be Galra.

He might have been told and living a lie. All his life.

  


* * *

  


This was insane. This was utterly insane.

And yet, here they were. Fighting Zarkon’s fleets.

Kyleth grit his teeth. Shiro was going to get Allura. That was good. He could get her easily. They just had to make a nuisance of themselves until they had her and everyone was safe. He just had to keep the rest of the fleets busy until Shiro was safe, safe with Allura, everyone was safe back at the castle.

And then-

He knew who that was. That was... that was Emperor Zarkon. That was _Zarkon._

”Kyleth! Kyleth, get out of there!”

He should leave. Zarkon was too powerful.

Zarkon had hurt too many of his people. Too many Blades. And now his new family.

Kyleth ignored Coran, and aimed a blast right at Zarkon. He grit his teeth as Zarkon avoided it, then sucked in a breath as he realized Zarkon was in space. Without a suit.

With the Black Bayard.

”Red Lion Paladin,” he heard Zarkon say, almost in his ears. “You have a Lion, but you fly it like a kitten.”

Kyleth growled, the sound echoed by Red as he flew around, blasting at Zarkon again.

Zarkon raised the Black Bayard, the shape changing to a sword. “The Black Lion will return to its original Paladin. You will not stop me, little kitten.”

”I am not a kitten!” Kyleth shouted. “I am not your kitten!”

It was a short, brutal, one-sided fight. Kyleth dodged and weaved around Zarkon’s bayard the best he could, but- Red shouted warnings at him through alarms, telling him of all the damage she had taken. Kyleth grit his teeth, holding on tightly as he was tossed around. He could do this. He could-

”You fight like a Galra soldier,” Zarkon mused. “But none of the Galra traitors have ever face me in a fight like this.”

Kyleth stayed silent.

”Were you trained by them, little kitten? Or... are you a halfbreed, spurred on by your Galra blood to do things greater than your heritage allows you to do?” Zarkon chuckled as Kyleth froze, barely breathing. “Either way. No traitor is allowed to live, and no one is to know the existence of halfbreeds.” Zarkon pointed his bayard at Red, Kyleth still frozen at the controls.

Only for a blast to interrupt him. Kyleth looked over, seeing Blue floating there. “Come on!” he heard Lance say over the com link. “We have Allura! Let’s go!”

Go.

Kyleth swallowed, turning to leave. He had to go. Leave... leave.

Leave.

Go.

_Halfbreed._

He entered the castle, and didn’t move from Red. Halfbreed.

_Halfbreed._

The word echoed in his ears, drowning out Hunk and Coran’s voices.

Then-

He felt Red being sucked back out of the castle.

And he could see everyone else being sucked out as well, falling into edges of the wormhole into worlds unknown.


	13. Chapter 13

For a moment, nothing was up.

Then- Kyleth righted Red, trying to pull her out of the nosedive. She wasn’t responding, but he tried. Tried to pull her out, tried to not make her crash. He muttered under his breath, Galra words Kolivan thought he didn’t know as Red didn’t slow. And then-

For a moment, Kyleth just rested against the controls, groaning. That had been one hell of a crash. “Hey,” he said softly. “You okay there?” He pulled on one control stick, then sighed. “Yeah. We had one tough battle. Rest. I’ll fix you up.”

Then he closed his eyes.

It wasn’t surprising now that he thought about it that Zarkon knew he was young. He wasn’t... Kolivan called him a kitten, but he really wasn’t a kitten anymore. And yet... Kyleth sighed. It wasn’t surprising that Zarkon knew it, though. He flew recklessly. Lance had noticed it when he was telling stories about his flying. He flew like a little kitten. And it wasn’t surprising he thought he was one of the Galra that opposed him. He did act like the Galra he was.

But what else he said. About... that. Halfbreed.

They didn’t exist.

Halfbreeds _didn’t exist._ Galra couldn’t breed with other races. He couldn’t be anything other than Galra. And yet, Zarkon had said it like he had seen halfbreeds before. Seen them, and killed them.

Kyleth shivered. He wasn’t a halfbreed. He was... he was Galra.

Slowly, he started out of Red, staring out over the landscape. It looked... desolate. Over the com link, he heard... someone groaning. “Hello,” he called, turning his head slightly. “Hello, this is Kyleth.”

”Hey.” Shiro. He sounded weak. “Looks like it’s just the two of us.”

Kyleth took a moment, looking around. He sounded hurt, and if they were alone- he needed to find Shiro. “I’ll come find you,” he told him as he located him on his visor, starting to run towards him. “How are you?”

”Oh, you know.” He heard Shiro’s voice try to lighten. “Just a glowing alien wound and a fall from the upper atmosphere to crash into a hard pan surface at what I'm guessing is about 25 meters per second squared. Nothing big.”

That made Kyleth’s eyes widen, almost pausing in his running. “That sounds like a lot,” he said, worried. “What wound? How...”

”Don’t worry about it,” Shiro told him, chuckling breathlessly. Then, worried, “Actually, maybe you should get here sooner rather than later.”

”What’s going on?” Shiro didn’t respond, and Kyleth almost followed up on that when he heard Shiro grunting, sounding- “Shiro! What’s wrong?” He still didn’t respond to him, and Kyleth grit his teeth, putting on a burst of speed. Something was wrong, and he needed to fix it.

The ground under him shuddered and burst, a geyser knocking him off his feet. Kyleth rolled, using the jetpack to keep himself up on ground. Damn. He would have to be careful. But Shiro was in danger- no. He had to be careful on his way. Patience. That was what Kolivan kept trying to teach him. A little patience, a little focus.

”Hey.” Shiro’s voice was breathy with pain. “I’m trapped in a cave right now with some nasty creatures wanting to eat me right outside.”

”Okay.” Kyleth came to a stop, looking out. Over...

A chasm.

”Give me a moment,” he mumbled. “Think, Kyleth... a little patience... a little focus...”

”Patience yields focus?” Shiro asked, a little laugh in his voice.

”It’s something Kolivan keeps trying to teach me,” he told him, looking backwards at the geysers, something clicking in his mind. “And I think I know why now. Hold on.” He turned towards the edge, bayard out. If he used the geysers underground to propel himself across the chasm...

Well, he had to try.

Kyleth turned around, and cut an edge out of the cliff. And- the underground geyser did exactly what he thought it would do, shooting him across the chasm. He grinned, and as he dropped, losing momentum, he used his jetpack to shoot himself across the last bit.

It worked.

No more fooling around. He used his jetpack to race across the ground towards Shiro. Shiro was in danger.

”They’re digging,” Shiro told him, his voice urgent. “ETA?”

”I have visual on the Black Lion,” he told him. “I’ll be there in a bit, Shiro.”

Shiro didn’t answer.

”Shiro!”

Nothing.

When he finally got there, saw Shiro in the middle of the beasts, Black lying there unresponsive... Kyleth narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to help like this. But... he looked over at Black. No. Black wouldn’t... no, he had to try. He placed a hand on Black’s nose, looking up. “I know I’m not Shiro,” he said, his voice urgent. “But Shiro’s in trouble.”

Black didn’t move.

Kyleth nodded, lowering his hand. He had to save Shiro, now. It didn’t matter if Black would help him or not. Shiro needed help.

Black came to life, mouth opening to let Kyleth in.

He grinned, climbing in.

It wasn’t like piloting Red. Black didn’t react the same. Didn’t react to the slightest touch exactly how he was thinking. But it was still unlike piloting any other craft. And easily, so easily, they scared away the beasts together, protecting Shiro.

His family needed to be protected. Always.

  


* * *

  


”I think I have something back in Red to help you,” Kyleth said, looking down at the wound in worry as they sat, trying to calm slightly.

”You mean this little thing?” Shiro laughed a little. “Nah. It’s not like it’s getting bigger all the time.” He glanced over at Kyleth’s sour face, chuckling. “It’s a joke, Kyleth. A little black humor.”

”It’s not funny,” Kyleth muttered.

Shiro chuckled again. Then- “I noticed you’re calling me Shiro now.”

”Sir!” Kyleth felt horrified. “I didn’t mean-”

”It’s okay.” Shiro smiled at him. “It’s a good thing. We need to be a more cohesive unit, and you holding yourself away from all of us like that wasn’t helping.” He looked up at the sky, sighing. “We all shouldn’t be holding ourselves away from each other.”

Kyleth nodded, looking up at as well.

”Kyleth...”

He curled up, pulling one knee up to his chest. “I need to see Kolivan again,” he told him, his voice hushed. “I... I have to ask him something.”

”What do you need to ask him?”

He closed his eyes, hearing Zarkon’s words in his ears again.

_Halfbreed._

”I need to know what I am,” he finally said, opening his eyes. “All Galra look different, but no Galra looks like another species. I don’t know why I look like a human. And-” His hands clenched.

”You don’t have to-” Shiro started to say before Kyleth shook his head.

”Zarkon guessed I’m Galra,” he told him. “He... he said I might... be a halfbreed. But... those don’t exist. Those _can’t_ exist. I... I need to ask Kolivan what... what I actually am.” He looked over at Shiro, swallowing. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he begged. “I... I don’t know yet. But I know I’m Galra. I have to be to use my blade. I just... I don’t know what this means.”

”I won’t tell anyone,” Shiro assured him. “I don’t even know if I’ll make it out of here.”

”You will,” Kyleth told him fiercely. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Shiro chuckled. “Then it’s settled. I won’t tell anyone and you’ll get me out of here alive.”

Kyleth blinked for a moment, trying to understand before laughing slightly. “Okay, I guess.”

Shiro smiled at him, weak and pained, before looking back up at the sky. Then he frowned. “Hey, is that-?”

Kyleth looked up as well and saw-

The Green Lion.

_Pidge._

  


* * *

  


His blade. The one he had gotten from his mother as a kitten.

The one only a Galra could awaken.

The one in his hands right now.

Kyleth knew he was Galra. He had to be.

But...

He slid the blade under his pillow again, where he could easily get to it if someone tried to break into his room.

He needed to talk to Kolivan.


	14. Chapter 14

”Stop hovering, I’m fine,” Lance laughed, batting Kyleth away. “Just a little irritation from the jellyfish. It’ll go away. You sure you’re okay? You said you and Shiro were fighting some pretty nasty stuff.”

”I’m fine,” Kyleth told him, irritatedly as he examined Lance. A little irritation his ass. He could tell Lance was still swollen in some spots. “Shiro’s the one that got hurt the worse.”

”Yeah, it’s a good thing he’s in the healing pod,” Lance said, batting Kyleth away again. “Dude, I told you, I’m fine.”

Kyleth muttered under his breath as he settled back, looking over at Shiro. He looked... like he was having a bad dream. It made sense, considering what he had learned about Shiro. But he just... didn’t want Shiro to be hurt anymore. He wanted Shiro to be okay. “So you had fun with... mermaids.” Whatever those were.

”Dude, they were so cute.” Lance’s face lit up. “Even you would have fallen for one of them.”

”And what is that supposed to mean?” Kyleth glared at him. Sometimes Lance got like this and he refused to explain what he meant. And Kyleth hated it. He worked so hard to be part of the group now, and Lance refused to let him in on this last bit.

Lance only patted him on the shoulder and said “I’ll tell you later.” Which only served to make Kyleth more angry. He wanted to be part of the group!

The sound of the cryopod opening and Shiro groaning interrupted them, and Kyleth turned as Shiro staggered out. He and Lance moved to catch him, steadying him as he blinked. “Hey,” Shiro said, almost a little dazed. “Get everyone else. I- I remembered something while I was asleep.”

Kyleth’s eyes widened. When Shiro remembered things, it was always useful. “Yeah, of course.”

”I’ll get them!” Lance chirped, letting go of Shiro to go summon the others. Kyleth didn’t pay attention to him as Shiro found his balance, pulling away from him.

”I’m okay,” Shiro told him quietly. “It’s just... I think I remembered something important. We’re going to need Pidge if I’m right.”

”What did you remember?” Kyleth asked him, hands still close to his body in case he lost his balance again.

Shiro shook his head, clearing it. “I think I’ve heard the name Blade of Marmora before.”

Kyleth’s eyes went wide.

He didn’t have a chance to do anything more than open his mouth before everyone else entered the room, curious about what Shiro had to say. Kyleth’s heart pounded in his chest as he explained about a Galra that saved him, that entered coordinates into his arm-

_Ulaz._

Kyleth closed his eyes. It felt like it had been forever since he had heard anyone else say any names he remembered. And Ulaz... it felt like forever since he had even seen Ulaz at all. Forever since he had even seen anyone from the Blade of Marmora.

And then he remembered.

He had run away. He needed to go back, to get their help, to have them ally with them... but would they listen to him? He _ran away._ Ulaz would know that. Would he have the right to ask them to help?

”Kyleth?” He opened his eyes at Allura’s voice, looking at her. “You are the one that would be able to verify this Ulaz’s membership in the Blade of Marmora. Is he indeed part of your organization?”

She still... held him apart from the rest of them. Still considered him not a Paladin of Voltron. Mutely, he nodded, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. He didn’t listen as Pidge spoke, or as they made plans, just... just heard something screaming in the back of his head. Something that told him that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t ready. That he had made a huge mistake, and it was about to blow up in his face.

That maybe... he’d never be a part of Voltron. Not truly. And now that he ran away from the Blade of Marmora... he’d never be a part of them again, either.

  


* * *

  


Kyleth tilted his head, interested. Everyone else was busy around the bridge but him and Lance, and Lance had just said something interesting. “So you felt the pull to become a pilot too?”

Lance nodded eagerly. “I had been told all I was good for was a cargo pilot, but... y’know, I felt like I had to be meant for something more. And I totally looked up to Shiro. So I figured, you know, why not? Why not try to be totally awesome like Shiro? And I just felt like fighter pilot was the right thing.”

”Huh.”

”What about you?” Lance waved a hand. “One of your Blade of Marmora buddies put you up to it?”

”It was part of my training,” he admitted. “But I was just... really good at it. And I liked it a lot. And I just felt like it was something I had to do.”

”Think maybe it was fate?” Lance raised an eyebrow. “That we become pilots?”

Kyleth shifted, uneasily. He didn’t like the idea of fate shaping him. “I hope not.”

Lance’s next words were cut off by Allura’s voice. “We have an intruder.”

”It looks like one of your suits,” Shiro told Kyleth as he came to see.

Kyleth frowned, staring at the intruder. It did. By the size and shape... it had to be Ulaz. But he wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure that all of the Blade of Marmora would actually be amiable towards the Paladins of Voltron. “What do you want to do?”

”We should go apprehend him,” Allura said, her voice hard.

Kyleth stared at the display. At the intruder. At possibly Ulaz.

”Let me go.”

Everyone looked at Kyleth in surprise. He looked at each of them in turn, ending in Allura. She stared at him hard, almost glaring before she nodded. He nodded back, running off to his room. For this...

For this, he needed to prove to them he was a part of Voltron. He- he might have run away, but it was to something bigger. Something better. It was to Voltron. And he had to prove it. He pulled on his armor and ran to level five, to meet the intruder.

”You’re coming up on the intruder now,” he heard Allura say over the com link as he ran through the halls, and he slowed his steps. He could hear him now. Kyleth took a deep breath, and turned the corner, pulling his bayard out and activating it.

The intruder stopped, staring at him. Slowly, he pulled his blade, and Kyleth raised his bayard. The intruder wouldn’t know it’s him due to the helmet currently on his head, but... he would need to be careful. A single misstep and he would be dead.

A little patience.

A little focus.

Or as Shiro put it, patience yields focus.

Kyleth waited, watching.

Then he saw the intruder’s foot move, ever so slightly.

He let out a breath-

And struck.

The intruder blocked the strike, taking a step back, then rushed forward. Kyleth jumped back, landing easily before dodging. The two of them paused, taking in the other. He could see the intruder thinking behind the mask, and Kyleth’s eyes narrowed.

And he struck, sliding in under the intruder’s blade to come in behind him, holding his bayard to his throat.

”Yield.”

There was a moment where the intruder didn’t move.

Then- he relaxed, dropping his blade. “Kyleth,” he heard and his heart twisted at Ulaz’s proud voice. “We always knew you were meant for something more.”

”We’re coming down now,” Allura said over the com link as Kyleth kept his bayard to Ulaz’s throat.

”We have a lot of questions for you,” Kyleth told him, his eyes narrowing. _He_ had a lot of questions. But... he wasn’t sure Ulaz could be the one to answer them.

They didn’t move until the rest joined them.

  


* * *

  


”Ulaz seems pretty cool,” Hunk told him as Ulaz, Shiro, and Allura worked together, talking. “Are all of your Blade of Marmar friends like this?”

”Marmora. And...” Kyleth shrugged. “It’s a war. We are who we are.”

”Oh.” Hunk stared at Ulaz again, then back at Kyleth. “But-”

”Oh no!”

Everyone shot up at Coran’s voice. They rushed forward to see- “Is that a RoBeast?” Lance asked.

Allura turned to Ulaz, fury in her face before Kyleth shook his head. “Allura, I can vouch for him,” he told her. “It’s not him.”

The fury didn’t smooth, but it did transfer from Ulaz to the RoBeast. “Get out there, Paladins,” she told them.

Kyleth nodded, and started to leave before Ulaz reached out, taking his shoulder. He stopped, looking up at Ulaz in surprise. “You’ve grown more than I would have thought, Kyleth,” he told him, squeezing Kyleth’s shoulder. Ulaz let him go, patting his shoulder one last time with a smile.

Kyleth smiled at him, nodding before he left to fight the RoBeast.

  


* * *

  


One last time.

One last time.

Kyleth heard Ulaz’s voice in his head one last time.

Felt his shoulder being patted one last time.

Saw his smile one last time.

One last time.

One-

Last-

  


* * *

  


”Kyleth?”

He looked up suddenly from his blade. He didn’t realize Shiro had even been calling his name from outside the room, been knocking. Kyleth stood, opening the door, still holding his blade in his hand. “Yes?”

Shiro just looked down at the blade in his hand. The one with the Galra symbol, the one given to all Blades of Marmora.

Kyleth looked down at it as well.

Ulaz’s smile, one last time-

He didn’t realize when Shiro hugged him, only that there was fabric under his nose at one point, and it was quickly getting more and more wet as sobs scraped their way out of his throat.

Shiro just held him.


	15. Chapter 15

Anything Hunk made tasted far different than anything he had tasted growing up, but... something about it was nice. It was a lot of sweeter than anything else he was used to, but he liked it. A lot.

Right now, the sweetness sat wrong on his tongue. Hunk sat down across from him, sympathy in his face. “You doing okay there, Kyleth?”

”Huh?” He looked up at Hunk, blinking. “Yeah.”

”You’ve been kind of... out of it lately,” Hunk explained. “You know, since... then.”

One last smile-

Kyleth took a deep breath. “It’s war,” he told Hunk, his voice hardening. “We lose people in war.” He would have lost someone eventually. That person being Ulaz... it hurt. But he couldn’t let it keep him down. He had to keep going. They were on their way to the Blade of Marmora headquarters. Once there, they would have allies. They would beat Zarkon.

They wouldn’t lose anyone else.

He looked up at Hunk, nodding. “We’ll lose people. And we’ll keep going. It’s... it’s war. It’s what happens.”

”Yeah, but-”

He didn’t want to hear anymore. He didn’t want to think of Ulaz, of him smiling at Kyleth one last time, patting his shoulder one last time-

”I’ll be training,” he snarled at Hunk, getting up to leave. Kyleth left Hunk there, not even looking behind him as he went to get something... else on. Something that wasn’t-

Something he could fight in. That was Paladin themed. Or not. Something. Else.

Kyleth took a deep breath, looking down at his hands. He had worn a uniform for the Blade of Marmora as long as he could remember. It was only here that he had started to wear something else. Here, where he started to wear Paladin armor when he was out on missions. Flying Red. Being a Paladin.

He closed his eyes.

He’d find new clothes. Something... not this. He’d find something... else.

Kyleth shivered. He had never worn anything else. But... but maybe he should wear something else. Something a little... else.

He started towards the bridge, where he knew Shiro and Allura would be. If anyone would know where any clothes would be, Allura would. And like he had figured, the both of them were there, talking. They broke off, turning as Kyleth came closer. “Hey,” Shiro said, his face softening. “How’re you doing?”

Kyleth took a deep breath. “I need clothes. I need... something other than this and my Paladin armor,” he explained, plucking at his uniform.

Shiro and Allura exchanged a glance, and Kyleth could see something pass between them. Finally, Allura nodded, stepping closer to him. “I’m not sure if we will have anything that will catch your fancy,” she told him, “but we should have plenty of clothes for you to choose from. Come with me.”

Kyleth nodded, following her. They walked in silence until Allura stopped, opening a door. The room she lead him to- well- it was really nice. He frowned, looking around. “Why aren’t we in one of these?” he asked, looking back at her.

”These rooms were meant for visitors,” she explained. “Many visitors have a much larger - and more easily bruised ego than any of our Paladins. But at the same time, we also provided clothing. There should be some that fits you, if you look.”

What she said... made sense to a point. Kyleth took a deep breath, going over to the wardrobe and opening it, looking through the clothing. His nose wrinkled at the Altean clothing, at the too bright colors. He didn’t like any of this. It seemed a lost cause when he found a pair of black pants, and a black short sleeved top. It didn’t cover as much as his uniforms did.

Kyleth swallowed.

”Can I... try these on?” he asked, looking at Allura.

She gestured to a nearby door. “All the rooms come with a private bathroom.”

Kyleth nodded, running for the bathroom. When he was there, he stripped quickly, pulling the clothes on. It felt... really weird. Loose. His hands felt too bare. It wasn’t right. He exited the bathroom, going back to the wardrobe, ignoring Allura as he found a pair of fingerless gloves. Still didn’t cover as much as he was used to but-

That was the point.

He turned to Allura.

”Thank you,” he whispered.

A concerned look had crossed Allura’s face. “Kyleth, I understand you and Ulaz had been quite close. After what happened-”

”What, Allura?” Kyleth snapped at her. “I’m handling it. Like how you handled destroying a phantom of your father.”

Her back straightened as her eyes narrowed.

Then...

Everything softened.

”That’s why I worry, Kyleth,” she told him gently. “I know what it’s like to see one you care about, a part of your family, die right in front of you.”

Kyleth looked away. “It’s war,” he said roughly. “He knew he was going to die at some point.”

”Kyleth...”

One last smile-

One last-

He pushed past Allura. He needed to train.

  


* * *

  


”I’m sorry, Red Paladin, but what did you say your name was?”

”It’s-” Damn it. The Olkari didn’t need to hear ‘Kyleth.’ It was too Galra. What was it Lance said it was close to for humans? “-Keith.”

Shiro shot him an unreadable look, and Kyleth ignored him, going over to one of the trees.

  


* * *

  


They couldn’t rest. Not after having escaped a war fleet. They had to keep training. Keep-

Kyleth paused, nearly running into Shiro’s chest. “Yes?”

Shiro sighed, lightly taking one of Kyleth’s wrists and pulling him aside. “We don’t have psychologists or therapists out here,” he started, confusing Kyleth right away. “If we did, I’d already be seeing one for my obvious PTSD. So I can’t tell you to see one regarding the death of Ulaz. But what I can tell you to do is to stop avoiding us.”

With a disgusted noise, Kyleth tried to pull away. “I don’t need-”

”You’ve stopped wearing your Blade of Marmora uniform completely. And I overheard you not using your true name.”

”I can’t be wearing the same clothes all the time and they didn’t need to hear a Galra name,” Kyleth shot back.

”You’re the only one here that requested a change of clothing,” Shiro told him seriously.

Kyleth grit his teeth.

Shiro sighed, letting him go. Kyleth tugged slightly on the glove, straightening it. “It’s not weak to talk about it,” he told him.

”It’s war,” Kyleth shot back. “Ulaz knew he was going to die as soon as he became a Blade of Marmora. I-” He cut off, realizing where he was going. What he was about to say. That he knew he had been born into it, born into a place where he was just going to-

”It doesn’t make it hurt less,” Shiro told him gently, obviously not seeing Kyleth’s train of thought. Talk to us, Kyleth. Don’t push us away.”

Kyleth shook his head. “It doesn’t make Ulaz less dead,” he hissed. “It doesn’t make the fact that I- we-”

Shiro paused.

Then, gently, clasped his shoulder. “Is that what this is about?” he asked. “You want to distance yourself from something you know what will kill you?”

”No- I-” Kyleth shook his head and looked down at his hands. At his... glove covered hands. Something a Blade would never do.

It was war. It would kill him.

It wouldn’t matter if he distanced himself from- from being a Blade because he-

He would die anyway-

They- they all-

He didn’t notice when Shiro pulled him into a hug.


	16. Chapter 16

”Hey.” Kyleth paused on his way back to his room, his eyelids feeling heavy. He just wanted to lay down for a little bit, to rest... why was Lance bothering him? “Allura said there was a pool. Come join me.”

”I really don’t-” Kyleth started to snap at Lance before the other came over to him, slapping a hand over his mouth.

”Come. Join. Me. We need to talk.”

Kyleth glared at him.

”Dude, I know. But you’ve been acting like a real dick lately, and someone’s got to kick your ass until you start acting like a... well, decent person. Kick your ass with words, I mean.” Lance lowered his hand. “And it’s really weird you keep wanting to be part of the group and now you’re pushing us away. So come be sociable.”

”What the hell do you want to talk about?” Kyleth asked him, his voice low and angry. “About Ulaz, like everyone else?” The hug Shiro gave him came back to him, how good it felt to be in the arms of someone the cared after- “Lance, I- I just don’t want to talk about Ulaz. We’re in the middle of a war, and-”

Lance shook his head. “Yeah. I get that. But you know what I don’t get? You snapping at us and pushing us away after that. We’re going to need you, Kyleth. You can’t-”

Kyleth grabbed Lance’s jacket, pushing him up against a wall. “I can’t what?” he growled into his face. “Finish that sentence.”

”You can’t shut us out,” Lance told him simply. “We’re going to care about you no matter what you do.”

”Maybe you shouldn’t,” Kyleth spat at him, still remembering the hug. How good it felt. How... how it made him remember that Shiro could die too. Lance, someone taking time out of this tiny amount of relaxation period to talk to him, could die. Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Coran...

He didn’t know when Lance pulled him into a hug, or when he shakily started clinging to Lance back. “Hey,” Lance whispered. “You just need to talk to any of us when you need to. We’re all going to listen. Hunk’s kind of upset you won’t talk to him.”

Kyleth laughed a little at that. He couldn’t talk to them. He could barely talk to Shiro, who knew the entire story. Who knew he had lost someone he cared about, who knew that he might not be fully Galra.

He couldn’t tell any of the others. Halfbreeds weren’t supposed to exist. If he was one... he wasn’t supposed to exist.

He felt Lance stroking his fur and sighed, leaning into the touch. Someone stroking his fur... it felt good.

Maybe it’s not fur, a part of his mind whispered. Maybe it’s hair. Like humans have.

Kyleth pulled away from Lance at the thought. He had fur. He didn’t have hair. He wasn’t human.

Maybe you are, the part of his mind whispered. Maybe you’re human.

Lance let him go, putting his hands on his hips and frowning at Kyleth. “So. Are you going to join me in the pool or not?”

”I think I’d rather not,” Kyleth told him, his voice quiet. “I don’t like water.”

”Yeah, I get that,” Lance agreed. “Fur, right?”

Kyleth nodded.

Lance clasped him on the shoulder. “Then come try some of Hunk’s baking later. It’d make him really happy.” He turned, walking off. Kyleth watched him go, then let out a breath. He didn’t... that was...

The more he was with humans, the less he understood. The less he... he was sure of himself. He was Galra. Nothing could change the fact that he had to be Galra. But after what Zarkon said... Halbreeds didn’t exist, couldn’t exist, but the way he spoke it sounded like he had _seen_ halfbreeds. Killed them. Which meant they could exist.

Which meant he could be half human.

But he grew up with the Blade of Marmora... how could he be half human if he grew up with the Blade of Marmora...

Kyleth sighed, turning for his room. He wouldn’t have answers until he reached headquarters. And hopefully... they’d answer them.

  


* * *

  


Kyleth woke suddenly, his throat hurting. Slowly, he sat up, realizing his face was wet. Had he been crying in his sleep? Kyleth wiped at his face, taking a deep breath. What had he been dreaming about? There had been... Ulaz, that one last time with Ulaz, and Kolivan, the last time he had seen Kolivan, and Thace- _Thace-_

He closed his eyes.

There was more. Others. Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge. Allura. Coran. And then they were all-

Kyleth scrambled to his feet, running for the door. Shiro. Shiro never slept. He wouldn’t be waking Shiro up. But when he left his room, Lance’s door was open, Lance standing there, yawning.

And then he saw Hunk and Pidge.

And Shiro.

Staring at him, worried.

Kyleth stared back at them, nervous. Why were they-

”You were screaming,” Shiro said gently. “Is everything okay?”

That would explain why his throat hurt. Kyleth swallowed, nodding. “I just... had a bad dream.”

Lance squinted at him. Pidge yawned, and Hunk looked concerned. And Shiro...

Kyleth looked away from Shiro.

”So is everything cool or are we having a sleepover?” Pidge asked sleepily. “Because if we need to have a cuddle pile because I’m not the only one with frayed nerves, I’m going to go get my pillow.”

Everyone looked at her.

”Pillow. Got it.” Pidge turned to her room to get said pillow.

Kyleth pointed at Pidge, confused. “What the-”

”Bridge will probably have the most room for us,” Shiro rumbled. “Get your pillows and some blankets and meet up there.”

Kyleth turned to Shiro. “What the-”

”Can do,” Lance said, yawning as he turned back into his room. Hunk did the same.

”Shiro, what is going on?” Kyleth snapped out, frustrated.

He gave Kyleth a small warm smile. “We’re going to all sleep together. So we all know the other is there, alive and well.”

Kyleth looked away, cheeks burning.

Shiro sighed. “You’re not the only one who was affected by what happened,” he said quietly. “For some of them, it was probably the first death they had ever seen. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen anyone die for the war. They’ve never had to deal with this kind of loss before. It hasn’t hit them as hard as it hit you, since they weren’t as close to Ulaz as you were, but it...” He sighed. “It made it real for them. That it’s a war we’re fighting. That people will die.”

Kyleth didn’t say anything.

”We all need to be there for each other.” Shiro gave Kyleth a weighted look. “We need to be open with each other.”

He knew what Shiro was talking about and shook his head. He couldn’t tell them he was a halfbreed-

”Kyleth-”

”Got my stuff,” Lance announced. He looked up, seeing Pidge and Hunk with blankets and pillows as well. “Come on, Kyleth. Come join the cuddle pile down at the bridge.”

”I’ll be right there,” Kyleth told him. When they left, he looked over at Shiro. “I can’t tell them,” he whispered. “Shiro, I-”

”Kyleth.”

”I look like you,” he said miserably. “All Galra look different but I’m the only one that looks like something else. I look human. And I-”

”Would it be so bad if you were human?” Shiro asked kindly. “Are humans that bad?”

Kyleth shook his head. “I’ve just been told all my life Galra can’t breed with other races,” he told him. “If I am- a halfbreed, then that was a lie. I was lied to. And- and with Ulaz dying and- I just-” He shook his head again.

”It feels like too much.”

”Shiro...” He looked up at him. “I think I might be half human.”

For a moment, Shiro just looked at him. Then he smiled, clasping his shoulder. “You’re still Kyleth. Galra, human, half Galra and human, all of it, you’re still Kyleth. It doesn’t matter.”

Shiro’s words made him close his eyes.

Then he nodded.

He still needed to know what he was. But... Shiro was right. He was Kyleth. He was still Kyleth.

And...

He had people who wanted to help him. To be there for him with after what happened with Ulaz, who also were affected by Ulaz’s death. He had... his people, his family hurting now, and... they shouldn’t be. They needed to be okay. They needed to be...

Kyleth nodded.

”I guess we should get down to the bridge,” he whispered.

They needed to be okay.


	17. Chapter 17

When Kyleth woke, he was on top of something soft and snoring. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seeing Hunk’s face, his arm wrapped around Kyleth’s midsection. How he had managed to curl up on top of Hunk, his head resting on his chest, was beyond him, but right now... Kyleth closed his eyes again, shifting a little. It felt nice.

The snoring stopped. “Mm. You awake?” came the sleepy slurring noise from Hunk, and Kyleth opened his eyes again to see Hunk looking down at him.

”Yeah,” Kyleth admitted softly. “Just woke up.”

Hunk yawned, not moving his arm from Kyleth’s side. “Y’doing okay?” he asked once he was done, tilting his head.

So many things came to mind. He had lost Ulaz, he might be part human- but the only thing that came out of his mouth was “I’m scared.”

He felt someone moving behind him, and a small body pressed up behind him, arms wrapping around him. “Yeah,” Pidge said. “I am too.”

”We all are,” he heard Lance chime in. “Sometimes I think back to how this all started and I just... think I was just a cadet. I wasn’t ready for this.”

”I still don’t think I’m ready for any of this,” Hunk added.

”Neither do I,” Pidge said. “But I’m willing to stay out here, because I need to find my family. I’m afraid I won’t, though. I don’t know if-”

Kyleth reached down, covering her hands with one of his. “I might be the only one prepared for this,” he admitted. “I... I was trained as long as I can remember for this war. But I-” He closed his eyes. Pidge and Hunk hugged him tighter, and he squeezed Pidge’s hands. “I never saw anything like this,” he admitted. “I never left the base.”

”You were sheltered from the worst of it,” Lance said, quiet.

”Yeah.” Kyleth’s voice was equally quiet.

They all stayed like that for a moment, then slowly broke apart, sitting up. Kyleth rubbed his eyes, looking around the room. Shiro wasn’t there, but they all knew Shiro rarely slept. Everyone else... he sighed. The words to tell them why he was scared, not just that he had never seen a death like that before, that he had never lost someone close to him, but that he didn’t think he was completely Galra. That he might... might be like them.

Kyleth leaned forward, clutching his ankles.

He didn’t want them to think he had been lying to them. But... if it was true, they’d find out eventually.

And he wanted to be part of the group.

”I don’t think I’m Galra,” he said, his voice barely audible as he stared at his ankles. Kyleth didn’t look up to see anyone’s faces. “I look too much like you.”

For a moment, he thought no one heard him. He hoped no one heard him. Then, he saw Hunk’s leg in his field of vision, and Hunk’s hand taking his. “You’re still Kyleth,” he said easily. “And hey, it’s something else you have in common with us.”

Kyleth closed his eyes.

”You would still be at least a little Galra, right?” Lance asked, sounding confused. “I mean, you thought you were Galra for a reason.”

”I don’t know,” Kyleth said. “I... Galra aren’t supposed to be able to breed with any other race but I can activate my blade like any other Galra and I look like you. Either I was lied to and we can, or... or they didn’t know and I- I’m a freak.” He shook his head. “Zarkon wanted to kill me if I was a halfbreed,” he whispered.

”You’re not a freak,” Lance said firmly. “Don’t think like that.”

”Yeah,” Pidge chimed in. “No matter what, you’re not a freak.”

Hunk suddenly hugged him and Kyleth squeaked. Then, slowly, he hugged Hunk back. He felt Pidge hugging him, then Lance, almost smothering him as they lent him support. Kyleth clung a little to Hunk, soaking in the hug before patting his back. “Need air.”

They all let him go, apologizing at once.

Kyleth just smiled. He felt... a lot better. And... they were almost at the base. When they got there, he could ask Kolivan for the truth. If he was fully Galra. And if he wasn’t... what he was. He had to know. He... had to know.

  


* * *

  


”Two may enter. Come unarmed.”

Kyleth narrowed his eyes. It made sense. They didn’t know if the Paladins of Voltron would be receptive to them. There’s a possibility they thought they were anti-Galra completely. They didn’t know Kyleth was a Paladin, if Ulaz’s reaction was anything to go by. So only allowing two, and making them come unarmed... yeah. He understood. They all turned to look at each other, and he saw everyone else looking troubled.

”I’m going,” he told them, his voice soft and serious.

”Are you sure that’s wise?” Shiro asked him. “They’re asking us to come unarmed.”

”They don’t know us,” Kyleth argued. “I know Ulaz found out I was a Paladin when I fought him. They don’t know if we’ll be open to them or if we’ll cause trouble simply because they’re Galra.”

Shiro nodded at that. “Then I’ll come with you.”

”Sounds good to me,” Lance said, nodding. “Shiro’s our leader, and they know you. I think that’s our best bet.”

Everyone else nodded and Kyleth relaxed, not realizing he had tensed. “I’ll go get changed and meet you at Red,” he told Shiro.

Shiro nodded at him and they left to get changed. As Kyleth changed into his Paladin uniform, buckling his armor into place, he felt his stomach turn. Ulaz hadn’t mentioned anything about him leaving, but Kolivan... he didn’t know how Kolivan would react. He might not take it well. He did run away.

But he had to go. He had to know.

The flight there was quiet. Shiro knew how tense he was, and what he was thinking. And while the path into the base was familiar, it still required his attention. When Kyleth finally landed, the two of them started out onto the familiar landscape. “It’s looks like a plain asteroid,” Shiro said, confused.

”It’s not,” Kyleth told him as members of the Blade of Marmora came to meet them. His eyes flicked over them, seeing the tense line in their shoulders. And... oh, the tail. It was... it was _Antok._ He was _home._ But... he nodded to Shiro, letting him take lead as they followed them. Everything about the base he remembered... he could lead everyone if he wanted to. But Shiro was his leader. He had to let Shiro lead.

When they got to the meeting hall, Kyleth felt weak. Kolivan stood there, staring at them. He knew it was Kolivan by the shape, and he just... it felt like _home_ seeing him again. Shiro and Kyleth stopped in front of him, waiting.

Finally, Kolivan said, “I am Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora.”

Shiro looked over at Kyleth, then moved aside, letting him take the lead here. Kyleth watched Kolivan shift slightly, curious. “Leader Kolivan,” he said, feeling the surprised ripple through the room as he spoke. “I am the Red Paladin and Blade, Kyleth. This is the Black Paladin, Shiro.”

No one spoke, the words ringing in the air. Kolivan only stared at him. Then- “I was not aware you had become the Red Paladin, Kyleth.”

”I found the Red Lion on my journey,” he said, trying to downplay what he had done. “I was chosen by her to be her Paladin.”

Silence once again. Then Kolivan inclined his head, very slightly. “And now you are here.”

He wasn’t attacking him for leaving. That was good. Shiro stepped forward, taking back lead. “We’re requesting your help. Kyleth has told us we’re on the same side. We both wish to take down Zarkon.”

”Indeed.” Kolivan shifted his attention to Shiro. Kyleth sighed internally, relieved. Everything was okay. Kolivan hadn’t hated him for leaving.

... why hadn’t Kolivan hated him for leaving?

Kyleth looked up at Kolivan and wondered... what did Kolivan know? Was he hiding something from him?

... how much had Kolivan been hiding from him?


	18. Chapter 18

Red Paladin Kyleth.

Kolivan could have never guessed that was what they were training him for. He knew Kyleth was meant for great things, things greater than any of them could give him, but Voltron... Voltron being real, being something that would truly be on their side... he never could have dreamed of this.

The Black Paladin, Shiro, left him to talk to Kyleth. Leaving Kolivan to study them. Shiro was obviously the leader. But he had let Kyleth take lead here... it was obvious he knew Kyleth’s heritage then. Perhaps even he knew his complete heritage. That... he didn’t know if that worried him or relieved him. Even he didn’t know Kyleth’s complete heritage other than his mother had laid with something not Galra. What it was... he hoped Kyleth had found the answer.

Kyleth said something to Shiro, nodding to him before walking over to Kolivan. He took a deep breath, looking up at Kolivan. “Leader Kolivan,” he asked, formally, making Kolivan proud of him. He knew he had raised Kyleth to take what role he had been destined for seriously. “I request the trials.”

Kolivan’s eyebrows rose. Kyleth knew this could result in death if he didn’t gain the knowledge he desired. Perhaps he wasn’t taking the role of Red Paladin as seriously as he thought if he was to throw his life away so quickly. “For what reasons do you request the trials?”

Kyleth’s face set, his eyes almost narrowing. “When I joined the Paladins of Voltron, I noticed I looked like the humans of Earth. When fighting Zarkon, he noted that I fought like a Galra, and guessed I would be one of the resistance. He also said I might be a halfbreed.” The words trembled slightly, only enough that those who had seen him grown would hear it. “I need to know if that is truly possible. If I am Galra, or if I am-”

He reached out, placing a hand on Kyleth’s shoulder. “The parameters of the trials is knowledge or death,” he reminded Kyleth. “Are you willing to throw your life away on learning your heritage?”

”Yes.” Kyleth’s face was stern. “I want to know the truth.”

Kolivan sighed. “There is one other avenue,” he reminded Kyleth. “You can simply ask.”

”I’ve been told ‘all Galra look different’ when I ask,” Kyleth shot back. “How will this be different?”

Kolivan nodded to the empty hall, indicating he should follow him. When they were alone, he turned to Kyleth, taking him in. How he had grown... “It’s a lie we have told to everyone on this base,” he told Kyleth, making him start slightly at the sudden honesty. “Only those of us who were close to your mother knew she had been pregnant with the child of another species. And with good reason: Galra mothers do not carry children of other species to term often, and often die trying. It’s created a culture among Galra, even those here, that we are superior by being the only race whose blood is still pure. Your existence proves it is possible. And... I would not have doubted you would not have lived to see Voltron had it been known you are not fully Galra.”

The words stunned Kyleth into silence. “What am I?” he finally whispered. “Am I part human? And- and why didn’t you tell _me_? Let me know why I didn’t look like everyone?”

”I cannot tell you if you are,” Kolivan confessed. “Your mother never told us who the father was. As for not telling you... perhaps it was a mistake. But... in some ways, I wanted to give you something resembling a normal childhood.” Kolivan shook his head. “Or perhaps one where you don’t feel more apart from the rest of us than you already did, being as young as you are. To give you a place to belong.”

Kyleth just stood there, silent, before asking, ”Why tell me now?”

Kolivan considered him for a moment. “Perhaps it’s seeing you grown into a new role,” he said. “We knew you would leave, and you’ve grown past what we could have ever hoped for you. Perhaps it’s merely that it’s time to tell you. You have joined the fight. And... perhaps it’s that it’s time to tell you.”

Kyleth shook his head. “I-” He looked up at Kolivan. Then his eyes narrowed, something coming to him. “Zarkon didn’t say halfbreeds weren’t allowed to exist. He said we shouldn’t know the existence of halfbreeds.”

That made Kolivan narrow his eyes. “Interesting.”

”Do you think there are others?”

”There might be others Zarkon is protecting.”

  


* * *

  


Kyleth resisted the urge to... do something. Allura didn’t seem to like Kolivan very much. But she didn’t like Kyleth when they first met. At least she wasn’t outright hostile. She seemed to give him the benefit of a doubt.

But what Kolivan had said- how had he missed it? What Zarkon had said... what did it mean? Was Zarkon really protecting someone? It really did sound like Zarkon _knew_ halfbreeds existed and they were out there... and that he allowed at least one to exist.

But who could it be? Kyleth grit his teeth. He couldn’t understand what was going on here. Of all the Galra that would have that purity idea, he would think it would be Zarkon. That Zarkon would tell him his existence was... a mistake and should be corrected. But no. That no one should _know_.

”Our plan has been moved up,” Kolivan told them, pulling Kyleth out of his thoughts. “We will need to start now.”

Kyleth grimaced. He wouldn’t have time to think about it. He needed to get started on this plan. Kolivan looked over at him, nodding at him. “Thace will be in contact with you directly,” he told him, making Kyleth’s heart skip. Thace was going to... he was going to be working like an actual Blade. Working in the field.

No...

Like a Paladin.

Kyleth nodded.

”Ooh, Thace,” Lance said under his breath, nudging Kyleth.

Kyleth batted him away.

”We will need to talk about the specifics of this plan,” Allura told him, her voice stern. “What do you intend to do?”

Kolivan turned back to her, and Kyleth turned to Lance. “I wish you wouldn’t do things like that,” he told him, irritated. “I don’t understand why you do it.”

”I guess I shouldn’t,” Lance told him. “You’ve been a little too sheltered to get it. Don’t worry, though. I’m not making fun of you.” He patted Kyleth’s back as he glowered at Lance. “Hey,” Lance said, looking past Kyleth as Allura said something, his attention caught by it. “What about the Olkari? They should be able to help.”

”Yes, you’re quite right!” Allura nodded. “I believe we could ask the Olkari for help,” she told Kolivan.

Which left Kyleth stepping back, looking down at his hands. His... halfbreed hands. Hands that he had been told his entire life could not exist, hands that normally wouldn’t exist, hands that... were most likely part human. Hands other Galra would want to kill for not being pure Galra. Hands that Zarkon wanted to eradicate... possibly because he was trying to protect someone else.

He looked up at the rest of them. At Kolivan and Allura talking, and the rest of them interjecting when they had ideas.

And... stayed quiet.

He... needed a moment.


	19. Chapter 19

Kyleth grunted as Hunk sidled over to him. “You okay there?” Hunk asked him, voice pitched low. “You still thinking about what happened?”

Their trip to the weblum had been... interesting and he wanted to put it out of his mind as soon as possible. “No,” Kyleth told him, sighing. “Just kind of thinking that this is the closest any of us have gotten to stopping Zarkon in... thousands of years. It doesn’t seem like it could actually happen, and it’s... it’s happening.” He shook his head. “And it doesn’t feel right.”

”Whoa.” Hunk looked down at him. “Why do you say that?”

”It’s...” Kyleth squinted, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s like we’re missing something important.”

”Like what?” Pidge looked over at that, frowning. Ever since she, Lance, and Shiro had returned with Slav, she had her nose stuck in her laptop. What he said must have really gotten her attention.

Kyleth shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know.”

”Well, dude, you said you think Zarkon’s hiding something, right?” Lance looked over at him. “You thought more about that?”

”Yeah, but I still can’t figure it out.” He shook his head. “I mean, it sounds like he _could_ be hiding another halfbreed, but why? Who? If anyone would be a blood purist, you think it would be Zarkon. Who would be so import-” Kyleth stopped, then looked around. “Where’s Kolivan?”

”Dude. What is it?” Lance asked, his eyes wide.

”We’ve never seen the prince. We know Zarkon has an heir, but we’ve never seen him.”

”And you were just going to let that slip by us?” Lance yelped. “An heir is a pretty big thing!”

Kyleth flushed. “I just remembered about Lotor! No one’s ever seen him, so we’re not even really sure he exists. I mean, we’ve heard he has an heir, but no one’s ever seen him.”

”And you think this Lotor might be the halfbreed Zarkon’s hiding,” Pidge said thoughtfully. “Why let a halfbreed be the heir, though? Why wouldn’t he just kill Lotor and have another kid?”

”Lotor is Zarkon’s _only_ child in ten thousand years,” Kyleth told her. “He’s never had another heir.”

”So maybe it’s that he’s not protecting his son,” Lance mused. “He’s protecting his heir. I mean, if he kills Lotor, he might not have another kid, and be without an heir completely.”

”And he kills other halfbreeds so no one knows his own heir’s one.” Hunk winced. “That’s cold.”

Kyleth frowned. “I don’t even know if it makes sense,” he confessed. “But it’s possible. And we need to remember Lotor’s out there. We need to get everyone else and remind them about Lotor. If we kill Zarkon, Lotor might just take his place.”

”And that’s bad.” Hunk turned to everyone else. “That’s really bad.”

They all nodded. “I’ll get Shiro and everyone,” Lance told them, leaving.

Kyleth looked at Hunk and Pidge, and sighed. “We’re still really close,” he told them. “Defeating Zarkon is a first step. We just... need to be prepared if Lotor takes his place to continue the fight.”

”Man, I don’t want to continue the fight,” Hunk moaned. “I want to go home.”

”I want to look for my brother and father,” Pidge said, sighing. “It’s just not happening, is it?”

Kyleth frowned at them. “It’s-”

”If you say ‘It’s war,’ I’m going to have to stop you right there,” Hunk told him seriously. “We had lives outside of this. And you should too. Your life shouldn’t be... this. You should be allowed to be... Kyleth. What would you do if this really was the end anyway?”

That made Kyleth stop, shifting uneasily. “I-” He hadn’t thought about it. What would he do? He had been raised to fight the Galra. He didn’t know what he would do once that was done. “I- don’t know.”

”You could come back to Earth with us!” Hunk said brightly. “You might be part human, right? You should come back and see if you can meet your dad.”

It sounded... like something to do. He had never met his father, and it was... something to do. He didn’t know what he’d do otherwise. “Yeah. I guess.” Kyleth looked up as Shiro, Allura, and Kolivan came with Lance, and he stood, chin steady. “We didn’t think of everything,” he told them, watching their eyes narrow.

And then watch understanding cross Kolivan’s face. “It’s been agreed on that Lotor is a rumor.”

”Who is Lotor?” Allura asked, turning to Kolivan.

”Lotor is Zarkon’s heir,” Kyleth said grimly. “No one’s ever seen him. Leader Kolivan, if Zarkon is hiding a halfbreed like we think, Lotor may not be a rumor.”

Kolivan’s gaze sharpened. “You think Zarkon would allow his own heir to be a halfbreed instead of killing him. That’s a stretch in logic, Kyleth.”

”Lotor is his _only_ heir,” Kyleth pointed out. “The only one he’s had in ten thousand years.”

”That would not mean he would be a halfbreed,” Kolivan told him. “And since no one has ever seen him, it is safe to say he is a rumor. Zarkon has no heir.”

”But he could,” Allura said coldly. “You did not tell us of a possible heir.”

”He will not be an issue, Princess,” Kolivan assured her.

”You should hope he is not,” she told him, eyeing him.

Kyleth felt like growling. Why didn’t they believe him? But he saw Shiro frowning, nodding to Kyleth. “What Kyleth is saying would make sense if Lotor is a halfbreed,” Shiro told them. “And if Zarkon is having problems having children and Lotor is the _only_ child he’s managed to have, he would protect the only heir he could ever produce.”

Kolivan frowned. Allura did as well.

”We may need to be aware the fight will continue after we defeat Zarkon,” Shiro told them. “We can’t count on it ending at Zarkon.”

”We will watch after Zarkon is defeated,” Kolivan told them. “If Lotor indeed exists and inherits the empire, I will contact the Princess.”

Kyleth sighed. It was all he could ask for. But-

Damn it. He didn’t want it to be true. He hoped Kolivan was right, and Lotor was a rumor. He wished he was. It would be better this way.

He needed Lotor to be a rumor.

  


* * *

  


”Thace hasn’t contacted us.” Kyleth frowned. He was supposed to contact him. The fact he hasn’t... had something happened to him? Had something... “We need to move,” he told Shiro, who nodded.

”Kyleth,” Kolivan rumbled. “You know as well as I do the Blade of Marmora does not take risks like this.”

”We need to,” Kyleth argued. “If you’re unwilling, I’ll go. Pidge, you still have the cloaking device, right?”

Kolivan just stared at him, eyes narrowed. Then- “It’s suicide,” he told him, his voice almost angry. “Blade Kyleth-”

”I am a Paladin of Voltron first,” he interrupted. “I will always be a Blade, but I am a Paladin of Voltron. And right now, the universe is relying on me being a Paladin.”

He could see the moment Kolivan realized it. Kolivan’s eyes closed, almost in pain. “I understand you are no longer a kitten,” he said, opening his eyes. “Only understand what you’re doing.”

”I do,” Kyleth told him. “And I accept the consequences. Pidge, can you put the cloaking device on one of the pods?”

”Huh? Of course.”

Pidge went to get it ready, and he felt someone come up beside him. “May I speak to you alone?” Allura asked him.

”Of course.” Kyleth followed her, curious. What did she have to say?

Allura turned to him, almost looking ashamed. “Kyleth... I haven’t been fair to you since we met. I allowed my own prejudices about Galra to color my thoughts about you. You’ve proved yourself time and time again, and yet I was not fair to you. I want to apologize to you. You have been a wonderful Red Paladin. And... please come back safely. I...” She leaned forward, hugging him. “Please come back to us safe.”

Kyleth closed his eyes, hugging her back. “I will,” he whispered. He needed to come back and see them all again. This was his family, the Paladins, Alteans, and Blade of Marmora. His family needed to be there, needed to be well. And he needed to come back. That was just what needed to happen.

And it would happen.

He’d make it happen.


	20. Chapter 20

”Remember Kyleth.” Shiro’s voice was serious in his ear. “We need to upload the virus. That is our primary focus here.”

”I know.” He wanted to look for Thace, but he knew what he needed to do. He wasn’t going to shirk his duties to find Thace. Kyleth made his way down the halls, ducking around corners as soldiers and guards rushed around. But he made it to the hub without being seen, going to the terminal. Quickly, he input the codes, swallowing as he did so. Once he was done with this... he wanted to look for Thace. But a part of him told him he needed to get back to his Lion. Red would be needed.

Thace would have to be another casualty. He would have to lose...

Kyleth grit his teeth. It was war. He knew that would happen. He knew Thace was as good as dead when they lost contact. But he- he wasn’t ready for it. He wasn’t ready to lose anyone else.

No. He would have to be. Kyleth looked up at the terminal. He would have to be ready to lose his family. It was war. It... it hurt, but he would have to be ready.

The terminal beeped, and he looked down. “It’s not working,” he reported. “Something’s wrong-” He broke off, hearing something behind him. Kyleth ducked behind the terminal, pulling out his blaster. He had been followed. Hopefully he could dispose of whoever it was and figure out-

When he looked around the terminal, his breath caught in his throat. It was- Thace. He looked... he looked... like he could barely stand, barely be aware, but... it was Thace, alive-

”We’ve already changed the code,” came a voice behind Thace. When he turned, Kyleth could see two druids behind him. Kyleth narrowed his eyes, darting out around his cover quickly as one raised a hand, full of purple energy building in it. He raised his blaster, taking the shot, sending one flying. Hopefully killing it, but most likely stunning it, Kyleth thought sourly. Thace pulled his blade, rushing the other, slashing and forcing it to dodge. Kyleth pulled his own blade, slashing as the druid landed, forcing another jump backwards. It was enough for Thace to get behind the druid, grabbing it and throwing it into the nearest power source, the immense power frying the druid immediately.

Thace turned to Kyleth, narrowing his eyes. “You have one our blade,” he noted, looking up at his face. Then, his face turned surprised. “Kyleth? Is that-”

It made him happy that Thace saw him past the helmet. Of course he would. Thace would always know him. “I’m happy to see you alive,” Kyleth told him, and he winced internally at the formality of the words tempered with the adoring tone. “I mean- we need to work on the plan.” Good. Focus on what needed to be done. He turned suddenly as the druid he had shot at came down the halls, hands full of power. It was no longer stunned, Kyleth realized, and looked up. If he shot- there. He shot upward, forcing the wall to come down, blocking them in. Letting them work in peace

Thace nodded, turning to the terminal. “The best I can think of is to overload the hub,” he told Kyleth. “It will cause an explosion. That should do what we need.”

Kyleth nodded. “Good. We can let it explode as we get out of here-” He broke off as Thace turned away from him, getting to work on hooking up more power to the hub. “Thace. We can get out of here, right? Before it explodes?”

”There’s an exit through the main power conduit,” he said, not looking at him. “It’ll lead to-”

”Thace.” Kyleth swallowed. “No. I mean, _we_ can get out.”

Thace paused, then sighed. “Kyleth. My journey is over here. But kitten, you were always meant for more. We knew it from the beginning. You need to continue on. I will stay here and ensure it explodes. You-”

”You’re coming with me!” Kyleth growled at him. “If you don’t, I’ll stay here!”

Thace didn’t answer, finishing up. The power source started to glow, overloading, and he turned to Kyleth. Gently, he took Kyleth’s shoulders, leaning in to give the forehead of his visor a kiss.

And rushed him backwards, pushing him over the edge of the platform.

Kyleth’s eyes went wide as his arms flailed. No- no-

One hand grabbed Thace’s arm, pulling-

Thace looked backwards, his eyes wide as he fell as well-

And Kyleth grabbed him as they fell, keeping him close as they fell to where it lead out. He wasn’t going to let Thace go.

The two of them landed, and Kyleth grabbed his arm, pulling him. “Come on!” He ran, swallowing. They had to make it. They-

Explosions-

Kyleth turned, trying to get around Thace to put up his shield but he was too late, Thace was bathed in flame, he was, he was, he was-

The explosion threw him backwards-

And he landed in Red, her mouth closing around him. Kyleth closed his eyes tightly, then sat up as he smelled burning fur. He looked over and saw-

Kyleth looked around, trying to find something to put the fire on Thace’s fur out. There was a blanket. That- that should do. He would be okay. He could be okay. Just a little-

”I need to take Thace back to the castle,” Kyleth said numbly once he put the flames out. He looked at Thace, at the- the charred- “He’s hurt. He’s...”

”Uh, we need you out here!” Lance told him. “Thace can wait!”

Kyleth wanted to snap at him. But... he knew how tight the timing was. He didn’t have time to take Thace back and be back out to finish the plan. He didn’t... Kyleth closed his eyes.

And climbed into the pilot’s seat, trying to forget about the charred, still breathing body of Thace behind him. “Let’s do this.”

  


* * *

  


Nothing felt real.

They won. Zarkon was defeated.

But the casualty list wouldn’t stop echoing in Kyleth’s head.

Ulaz. Antok. Thace was in a healing pod, and Coran wouldn’t tell him how long it would take him to leave. There wasn’t an estimate for how long it would take to heal burns that severe. And Shiro...

Nothing felt real.

Kyleth just sat there.

Ulaz. Antok. Thace. Shiro.

His family.

He didn’t know when he started crying. But at some point, Lance had come over, wrapping his arms around him. Hunk came with him, doing the same. Pidge wormed her way in, resting her head on his chest.

Kyleth closed his eyes tightly, letting a sob escape him as they hugged him tightly.

  


* * *

  


”We will contact you if anything changes,” Kolivan told Allura.

She smiled, a true smile. “Thank you. And Kolivan...” Her face fell into sorrowful lines here. “I am sorry for your loss.”

”It is war. We were all aware this was the fate that could await us.” Kolivan inclined his head slightly. “But thank you. It is appreciated.”

The remaining Paladins were speaking of what to do. Kolivan watched them talk excitedly, the two tallest ones speaking of going home. He hoped they could, the kittens go back to being kittens. The little one wanted to continue looking for her family, and he would help her, for her help and her friendship with Kyleth. And Kyleth...

”You are welcome back as a Blade,” he told Kyleth quietly. “You may not be needed as a Paladin any longer. If that comes to pass, you are always welcome back with us.”

Kyleth didn’t look as if he didn’t hear it at first. Then he shook his head. “If you’re wrong, someone needs to lead them,” he said quietly. “Shiro isn’t here anymore. Lance and Hunk already said they won’t do it. Pidge is too young... someone has to lead them.”

Kolivan looked at him. “Do you think you’re ready for that?”

”No,” Kyleth said, his voice frank. “But... if we have to be Paladins, one of us has to lead.” He looked up at him. “And I’m the only one that won’t say no right away.”

Kolivan inclined his head in acknowledgement at that. “Always remember you have a place with us,” he told him. “And I wish you the best in whatever you do.”

Kyleth nodded, looking back at the rest of the Paladins.

And Kolivan felt... proud. He knew his kitten had been meant for something more. Something important.

Leading Voltron wasn’t what he expected, but it would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of right now, this is the end. I'm leaving it open so I can return to this universe after season three airs.
> 
> But everyone, thank you so much! I am so blown away by the response I got for this. Thank you, everyone. And now I get to work on the next part of the Shattered series! I'm going to take a day and chapter one will be up Friday, most likely.
> 
> All the thanks to infiniterhapsody for helping me!
> 
> Thank you all so much!


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